Investigators uncover hidden source of long-term community health crisis: 'There have been so many violations over the years'
One facility in Pennsylvania has been polluting local waterways and damaging the surrounding community since it opened in 1964 due to heavy metals and radioactive material from fracking and other industrial waste, Inside Climate News reported.
As recently as 2024, signage was added to the bank of Sewickley Creek near Yukon, Pennsylvania. It stands across the water from a slowly seeping pipe and reads, "Warning! Hazardous Waste Discharge Point. Arsenic, lead, cyanide, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and more are permitted substances for discharge at this site."
The pipe leads from the Max Environmental Technologies landfill, a waste disposal site that accepts wastewater and other materials from fracking operations, as well as a range of industrial waste. The water being discharged into the creek has, in theory, been treated, but Max Environmental's Yukon landfill is known to be out of compliance with regulations regarding hazardous waste disposal.
Testing reveals that the radioactive content of the water downstream from it is 1.4 times higher than the content upstream.
Stacey Magda, managing community organizer at the Mountain Watershed Association, told Inside Climate News, "It's not maintained properly. It's in really bad shape, and that's really the norm for the whole facility."
The people of Yukon have been exposed to this toxic pollution for decades without warning or precaution. There used to be no signs at the Sewickley Creek site, and the drain pipe is normally submerged underwater, invisible to visitors. The spot has been popular for kayaking and fishing, meaning people have been exposed to the contaminated water.
Beyond this one creek, the contamination from Max Environmental affects the surrounding area, including the Youghiogheny River and the Monongahela River, which Sewickley Creek flows into.
The result has been a heightened rate of cancers, miscarriages, respiratory distress, and neurological diseases throughout the community compared to state and national averages.
More broadly, the lack of regulation on this type of waste and the lax enforcement of what regulation does exist means that any community could be exposed to improperly treated water or other contamination from a dumping site.
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Regulators from the EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have taken some steps against the facility, issuing citations and temporarily stopping waste disposal there. However, it hasn't been enough.
"There have been so many violations over the years," said longtime Yukon resident Debbie Franzetta, according to Inside Climate News. "And what they do is they pay the fines, and they continue to operate."
More decisive legal action will be needed to protect Pennsylvania residents from this ongoing pollution.
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