CLEARFIELD – Residents concerned about the Boggs Township Landfill again attended the Lawrence Township Supervisors meeting and Jim Catalano spoke for the group.
Catalano noted they have visited other municipalities and other groups recently and all are on board with supporting the county’s appeal of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to approve the landfill’s permit, but last month the supervisors hadn’t made a decision.
Supervisor Chairman Randy Powell said the supervisors reviewed the paperwork they had from the township’s involvement over the years and then drafted a letter to be sent to the county commissioners stating the township’s concerns and objections.
A copy of the letter was provided to the media. The following is a summary of the concerns listed by the supervisors:
First, there is concern regarding sight distance for roads entering onto state Route 153 including Firetower, Clover Hill, Litz, Wearing and Brown roads as well as the SR 879/153 exit at Park Avenue. The letter states most of the entry points have marginal sight distance at the posted speed and most vehicles travel faster, 55 mph plus.
Another concern is sight distance for five private driveways along SR 153 and again traffic speed was noted as being of especial concern.
The supervisors questioned if there is an emergency traffic plan in case of emergency road closings, including where the traffic will go, what will happen if there is a spill, who would do emergency traffic control and what would happen to township roads.
The supervisors have concerns about traffic around the intersections for SR 879/153 and 153/2023 with little room for stopped traffic, a steep downhill grade from 2023, congested traffic at the Park Avenue intersection and the traffic study as a whole.
It was noted that the township will not accept any responsibility for a traffic light at the intersection due to cost.
The township would like the state Department of Transportation to review the findings of the traffic study, believing there were errors, that the numbers do not reflect what the supervisors and residents see daily, especially at peak hours, the emergency routes have not been fully taken into account and the lack of personnel for various situations.
The letter states emergency services are already stressed to the maximum and most volunteers work full-time jobs during the day.
“In closing, PA Waste assumes that Lawrence Township is just going to provide all these services at no cost. Our residents are the ones who will pay, they have increased noise, traffic and increased taxes to pay, all so PA Waste can make money.”