CORRECTION: The local municipality involvement process meeting being held about the proposed Boggs Township landfill is not open to the public. It is for officials of municipalities that would be affected.
CLEARFIELD – A meeting will provide the opportunity for municipalities to hear more regarding the proposed landfill in Boggs Township.
At Thursday’s work session, the Clearfield Borough Council discussed a local municipality involvement process meeting to discuss the landfill permit application received by the Department of Environmental Protection.
Borough Operations Manager Leslie Stott said she has attended LMIP meetings in the past, and it will be a good venue for the borough to make their concerns about the landfill heard.
She said one of those concerns is the problems that will occur when Interstate 80 is closed due to an accident and the trucks hauling garbage to the landfill are being re-routed directly through the borough.
Council member Steve Harmic asked if the council would be willing to get together to come up with a formal statement listing their concerns, which could be presented at the meeting.
The borough is one of numerous municipalities, civic organizations and residents that joined together with the Clearfield County Commissioners to oppose the landfill when it had been proposed before.
At their April meeting, the Clearfield County Commissioners announced they received a notice April 10 from Smith Gardner Engineers of Raleigh, NC.
The notice said that PA Waste is submitting another application for the landfill, which would be located along Route 153 in Boggs Township if approved.
PA Waste is again proposing for the “Camp Hope Run” landfill to be located along state Route 153 in Boggs Township.
According to previously published GANT News articles, PA Waste of Feasterville, Bucks County, originally submitted its landfill permit application to the DEP in September of 2006.
The first permit proposed for a new, double-lined 221-acre municipal waste landfill. It was proposed to accept 5,000 tons per day of municipal waste per day, and was to operate for about 25 years.
However, the DEP denied PA Waste’s landfill application in April of 2015 due to numerous technical deficiencies. In May that same year, PA Waste appealed the DEP’s decision.
Those opposing the landfill argued that it would cause environmental damage and bring excessive and potentially dangerous truck traffic to the area.
The landfill application passed the harms and benefits phase of the permit application process with the state Department of Environmental Protection.
However, in 2013 during the technical review portion of the application process the DEP determined the landfill application had 71 deficiencies and gave PA Waste three months to address the issues.
The deficiencies identified by DEP included the lack of a traffic study, the wetland review was not completed, soil information had not yet been submitted and the DEP wanted additional data supporting the landfill would not contaminate the ground water in the area.
After several deadline extensions, DEP rejected the application in April of 2015. The company filed an appeal to the ruling to the Environmental Hearing Board.
In spring of 2016, PA Waste withdrew both its appeal and its original permit application for the proposed landfill.
