Federal judge finds Modern Landfill violated Clean Water Act 419 times in York County
A federal judge has ruled that the operators of Modern Landfill violated the Clean Water Act 419 times between July 2019 and April 2023, a ruling that could lead to the company facing penalties totaling $4.1 million.
Judge Jennifer P. Wilson of the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania ruled that Republic Services was liable for discharge of pollutants – including carcinogenic PFAS compounds, so-called forever chemicals – into Kreutz Creek in Windsor Township.
The total penalty – which, under the law, could be up to $25,000 a day for each violation – will be decided as the litigation continues. The plaintiff, the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, which filed the suit on behalf of residents who live near the creek, estimated the damages at $4.1 million. Republic Services, which had stipulated that it had been in violation of the law, suggested a total penalty of $569,904 in court filings.
The suit, called a 'citizen suit' filed on behalf of residents when federal and regulators fail to act, asserted that Republic violated terms of its Clean Water Act permit and was subject to liability under the law.
'This case exemplifies the power of citizen suits,' Jim Hecker of Public Justice and the Riverkeeper Association's lead attorney, said in a statement. Hecker said the plaintiffs are looking 'forward to continuing this case and ensuring a meaningful and significant civil penalty is imposed' against Republic.
Co-counsel Steve Harvey said, 'With the current administration seemingly abandoning federal enforcement of environmental laws, citizen suits are more important than ever.'
The suit, filed in January 2023, followed some two years of testing water in the creek, tests that showed excessive levels of PFAS and other chemicals such as lead, lithium and uranium. The levels of PFAS found in the creek were exponentially higher than levels set by the EPA in its Drinking Water Advisory and were among the highest in the country.
Previously: Lawsuit filed alleging 'dangerous' levels of 'forever chemicals' in York County creek
Previously: Court: Modern Landfill must disclose it sent 'forever chemical' wastewater to Harrisburg
Republic was performing a $23 million upgrade to its wastewater treatment plant when the suit was filed, something it noted in court filings and argued that 'it could not have remediated its ongoing pollution as faster than it did, given the research and construction steps required to do so,' the judge wrote in her ruling.
The judge rejected that argument, writing that it was contrary to the company's own expert report that found the company was in noncompliance from July 2019 to April 2023 and 'flies in the face of law and logic.'
The ruling is the second significant finding against Republic, which has owned the landfill since 1999, in the last year.
In March 2024, the court ruled that the company could not keep secret that it was shipping millions of gallons of wastewater to Harrisburg's wastewater treatment plant, where it was dumped into the Susquehanna River without significant treatment. Such discharges, the Riverkeeper Association asserted, continued until August 2024.
Republic Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at 717-487-4305.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Judge rules Modern Landfill violated Clean Water Act 419 times
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