Latest news with #KeystoneSanitaryLandfill
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Olyphant to vote on grant, updated land development for industrial park
Olyphant Borough Council will vote Tuesday to apply for a $250,000 infrastructure grant and consider an amended land development agreement for a sprawling industrial park project off Marshwood Road. Council will vote on the motions regarding the proposed Triboro Industrial Park and associated Triboro Commerce Park — a project at least six years in the making that will build more than 4.5 million square feet of warehouse space on a large swath of land in the middle of Route 247, the Casey Highway and Marshwood Road. According to its meeting agenda, council will consider adopting a resolution allowing the borough to apply for a $250,000 state grant for infrastructure development at the Triboro Commerce Park. Council will also vote to confirm a memo to the land development agreement between the borough and the Triboro Industrial Park, as well as confirming a modified agreement dated April 25. The original land development agreement between the borough and Triboro was originally approved Nov. 9, 2022, according to the agenda. The Triboro parks encompass nearly 1,000 acres, with the industrial park being about 561.63 acres on the east side of the property and the commerce park being 411.589 acres on the west side, according to two $2 million open-end mortgages recorded with the Lackawanna County recorder of deeds on April 17, 2024. The Triboro Industrial Park transferred some of its property to the Triboro Commerce Park across two $1 property transactions recorded Dec. 29, 2021. Charles DeNaples, the son of Keystone Sanitary Landfill co-owner Dominick DeNaples, signed the April 2024 mortgages as the sole member of both the Triboro Industrial Park and Triboro Commerce Park. Both the commerce and industrial park list 1210 Wheeler Ave., Dunmore, as their address, which is the same address as Smart Recycling Inc. The Triboro Industrial Park is a four-building park with 4,522,880 square feet of warehouse space for lease, according to The warehouses will range from just under 1.067 million square feet to 1.184 million square feet. A brochure for the industrial park and its website advertise the site's close proximity to multiple interstates, touting it as being within a one-day drive of 60% of the United States' population and 40% of Canada's. The website also promotes the industrial park's 10-year tax break. In 2019, Olyphant council, the Mid Valley School Board and Lackawanna County commissioners approved a 10-year tax abatement term for the Triboro property, applying Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance status to 964 acres of the deteriorated, undeveloped land. Once the warehouses are built, the landowner will only pay 5% of taxes on improvements to the property for the first year, increasing by 5% in subsequent years. During the 10th and final year of the LERTA, the landowner will pay 50% of the value of the improvements before paying full taxes the following year. In April 2022, the industrial park received $3 million through the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, or RACP, with the funding going toward the first phase of the project and focusing on the eastern portion, including earthwork/excavation, clearing, utility relocation, mine mitigation, erosion, sedimentation controls and stormwater pond preparation, according to a press release at the time from state Sen. Marty Flynn, D-22, Dunmore. Last year, the state Department of Environmental Protection extinguished a mine fire burning near the proposed industrial park. The fire began in 2004 when someone set a stolen car on fire, spreading to the mines below and burning beneath Olyphant for 20 years at the former Dolph Coal Co.'s Hannah Bell Slope Mine. A DEP contractor successfully extinguished the 7-acre fire in April 2024 as part of a project approved for up to $16.5 million. Attempts to reach Olyphant solicitor and borough Manager C.J. Mustacchio and Scranton attorney Gregory J. Pascale, who represented Triboro in recent property transactions, were unsuccessful Monday afternoon.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Don't dump our future' — Friends of Lackawanna's decadelong fight
Nearly 11 years ago, a group of Dunmore natives and residents quickly pored over an unfavorable host agreement between the borough and the Keystone Sanitary Landfill during a council meeting, pointing out flaws in the contract and prompting the town to table the agreement for something more beneficial. 'That was really the beginning of Friends of Lackawanna, though we didn't know it at the moment,' said Michele Dempsey, who is one of eight core, founding members of the grassroots group, which formed in 2014 to oppose the landfill and its decadeslong Phase III expansion. 'Everybody who was in that room that night, or at least the core members, are still there today.' That scrutiny of the landfill in Dunmore and Throop never ended for Friends of Lackawanna, as members of the nonprofit environmental group became fixtures at local meetings, public hearings and even the courtroom while they worked under the motto, 'Don't dump our future.' Despite forming with no political or activism backgrounds and no expertise on the landfill, those core members would spend the next decade opposing Keystone and its 42.4-year Phase III expansion, and growing their grassroots group to more than 5,000 members today. 'We were all just citizens who were going about our daily lives and who are just like, 'Wait a minute, this doesn't smell right, literally and figuratively,' ' Dempsey said. Following a four-year legal battle, Friends of Lackawanna's volunteer-driven efforts culminated this month when the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board remanded the Louis and Dominick DeNaples-owned landfill's Phase III expansion approval back to the state Department of Environmental Protection over leachate and odor problems — two issues long argued by the environmental group. Approved by the DEP on June 3, 2021, the landfill's Phase III expansion allows it to triple its volume of waste by hauling in just over 94 million tons, or about 188 billion pounds, of additional garbage through the 2060s. Friends of Lackawanna appealed that decision to the Environmental Hearing Board the following month, with the five-panel board of environmental judges ruling April 1 that the DEP erred in approving the landfill's expansion by issuing a permit that does not sufficiently control or mitigate issues with odors and excessive leachate generation, which the judges said the DEP was aware of prior to approving the expansion. In handing down their decision, the judges sent the expansion approval back to the DEP to determine whether it needs to mandate additional measures to control odors and leachate. Leachate is the liquid that percolates through garbage piles. 'Were we so excited at an opportunity for this to be looked at again? Of course. Was this a huge win? Yes,' Dempsey said. 'Are we done? No.' In light of that court victory, members of Friends of Lackawanna reflected on their organization's growth over the past decade and the impact of grassroots environmental activism. In response to questions about the effect citizen environmental activism can have on public policy, DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said in an email that comments from the public are taken into consideration when the department reviews a permit application. 'The department welcomes comments from the public regarding environmental issues that impact them, including permit reviews, decisions, and operational performance,' she said. 'Gave me more resolve' Core members of Friends of Lackawanna agree their group emerged from a September 2014 Dunmore council meeting. At the time, the 714-acre landfill had just applied for its sprawling Phase III expansion, and amid that process, it was going to sign a new host agreement with Dunmore. The borough had been receiving the state minimum payment of 41 cents per ton of garbage hauled into the landfill, and during that meeting, borough officials considered a $1-per-ton agreement. The landfill needed the town's approval as part of its expansion plans, and at the meeting, then-Councilman Tim Burke, who also served as Dunmore's mayor from 2018 through 2021, handed out copies of the agreement. A group of citizens attended the meeting with concerns and read through the agreement prior to public comment, Dempsey said. After hurriedly looking through the proposed host agreement, Pat Clark, another core member of Friends of Lackawanna, addressed council, with the scrutiny pushing council to table the decision. 'I think things could have gone very differently,' Dempsey said. '(Council was) ready to sign the contract with the Keystone Sanitary Landfill that night, and they had to table it. That gave us another chance to regroup and come back to the next meeting — and keep coming back.' The borough would go on to renegotiate its host agreement with the landfill in November 2014, with an annually increasing agreement that now sees Dunmore receiving $1.56 per ton of garbage hauled into the landfill for 2025, increasing by a penny per year. Although the agreement wasn't perfect, Clark said it benefited Dunmore with tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue. The core membership at that early meeting quickly realized that if they were going to go after the issue, and considering the landfill's resources, they had to do so in a professional, organized way, Clark said. 'The first step in doing that was going to be to get a formal entity as a nonprofit,' he said. They chose the name Friends of Lackawanna because the issue isn't confined to Dunmore, Dempsey said. 'It's so big, and it's so far reaching in terms of the air and water, that it's not just Dunmore and Throop,' she said. 'This is really a regional issue.' Dempsey recalled meeting with a local politician's staff member shortly before Friends of Lackawanna formed. The staffer told her, 'Listen, I consider you a friend. You're not going to win this, and I just don't want to see you waste your time,' she said. 'I left there in tears because he was being honest from what he knew,' Dempsey said. 'Through my tears, I was like, 'No, no, not while I'm here. Not on my watch,' and it kind of gave me more resolve.' Although in recent years the DEP's phone lines have been flooded with odor complaints — something landfill officials often contend are frequently misattributed to Keystone — and while residents now pack important meetings about the landfill, Dempsey described a fear of speaking out a decade ago. 'The tides have turned. The community found its voice,' she said. 'Today, the entire community is standing together, from residents to local officials, and that's what grassroots power looks like.' Core member Vince Amico, who served on Dunmore council from 2015 through 2023, including two years as president, believes the organization's biggest accomplishment has ultimately been making people aware of what's happening and showing them they can change the culture of their area. 'A small group of people can make a difference, not just to accept what's put in front of you and say, 'That's just the way it is,' and I think we've awoken a lot of people,' Amico said. 'Politicians listen to us now, and they realize that this issue isn't going away.' 'Everything was work' The landfill's expansion review was initially estimated to take around 10 months, Clark said. 'We're on year 11 now,' he said, chuckling as he wondered how many members would have stuck it out if they'd known it'd be an 11-year endeavor. Friends of Lackawanna is like a second full-time job for core members, who have families and careers, Dempsey said. While the DEP now has a webpage dedicated to the landfill with notices of violation, permit applications, communications and other documents available for the public to download, that wasn't the case a decade ago. 'Everything was work. Everything required a Right to Know,' Dempsey said, recalling going to the DEP's Wilkes-Barre office for in-person file reviews. 'Everything was research.' Without having facts and data, people would only listen to them to a point, she said. 'We had to find the facts and data,' she said. 'We had to go out and find a lawyer. We had to hire environmental consultants.' Some of those facts didn't yet exist. 'The fact that a health study had never been done — you want a 50-year expansion, and we have no baseline here. We have no benchmark to say whether or not this is safe for the community,' Dempsey said. Sharon Cuff, another core member of Friends of Lackawanna, agreed, calling the early days 'research, research, research.' 'The hours put in reaching out to different organizations, reaching out to the health organizations, government officials, other grassroots (groups), just trying to find help along the way,' Cuff said. 'The rest of it was just really trying to figure out everything that's been going on over the years because we didn't have any documentation.' Notably, Friends of Lackawanna pushed for a health study. In April 2019, the state Department of Health and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a public health report that concluded air quality around the landfill poses no long-term public health threat but can have short-term health effects on vulnerable individuals, such as pregnant women and the elderly. Those temporary health effects could include mild irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, skin and respiratory tract, according to the report. Cuff, who strongly advocated for the study, contends it allowed them to emphasize the cumulative impacts of chronic exposure, even to low-level chemicals. Friends of Lackawanna pushed for transparency, she said. 'How much can one area take?' Cuff said. As the grassroots group began to raise concerns about residents' quality of life, health and future by laying out what they discovered, their support grew, Dempsey said, attributing it to 'a lot of groundwork.' Members attended school board meetings, council meetings and other meetings, as well as working with local media, she said. 'It was slow, slow, slow and then fast,' Dempsey said, describing an early public meeting that packed Dunmore High School's auditorium. 'I couldn't have fathomed this months before.' The public's perception of their group changed dramatically, Clark said. 'I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who still think we're crazy, and maybe they're correct a little bit, but I think perception has shifted to … one of respect,' he said. 'I think that tone has shifted because Friends of Lackawanna has proven as an organization that you can go about things in a professional way, just keep chugging along and doing the work at hand, and if you do that, and you always handle yourself the right way, and you are always willing to talk to people, and you always look at all the facts … there's a segment of people that grow to respect that, and I think that segment grows over time.' 'Better, brighter future' Throughout the past decade, Friends of Lackawanna weathered setbacks, with the two largest being losing its first appeal before the state Environmental Hearing Board in 2017, followed by the DEP's June 2021 approval of the landfill's Phase III expansion. Friends of Lackawanna initially appealed the landfill's 2015 operating permit approval, citing underground fires, groundwater contamination and damage to liner systems. Two years later, the Environmental Hearing Board ruled in November 2017 that it would not rescind the landfill's operating permit, though it did require Keystone to prepare a groundwater assessment plan because of leachate contamination that a monitoring well had detected since 2002. The board's decision also criticized the DEP, determining, 'The (DEP) relies upon formal, memorialized violations in conducting its review of Keystone's compliance history, but the department, with rare exceptions, never memorializes any of Keystone's violations.' The ruling felt like a gut punch, but it also gave Friends of Lackawanna a road map to win its next appeal, Clark said. 'If we know there's problems and they're not writing them down, then we need to get these violations documented so that no one can deny them anymore,' Clark said. 'That's exactly what happened.' In March 2024, a month before oral arguments began in Friends of Lackawanna's expansion appeal, the landfill signed a consent order and agreement with the DEP that required it to pay a $575,000 civil penalty and undergo 26 corrective actions as the culmination of 14 odor-related violations since January 2023, close to 1,000 odor complaints in seven months and at least 70 instances of DEP staff detecting offsite landfill gas and leachate odors attributed to the landfill. Friends of Lackawanna members especially consider the June 2021 expansion approval to be a challenging time. But the group continued its efforts to move toward the goal of a 'better, brighter future for this area,' Cuff said. 'That's always been the driving force,' she said. 'It's tough when you're hit with loss after loss after loss, but again, there was so much positive happening, too.' The expansion approval was the group's low point, but it was also an easy call to action to keep going, Clark said. 'We kind of knew at the end of the day where we needed to get to, which was to challenge this expansion, and that's where we got to this past month,' he said. Support from the community also gave the organization extra drive, he said. Clark also pointed to the 'near universal support' Friends of Lackawanna received from local politicians, ranging from school boards and councils to federal legislators, starting with former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. 'I'll be forever thankful for that,' he said. Dunmore council President Janet Brier lauded the group in a statement. 'I believe FOL has had a positive impact on the whole region in that they have provided common sense and reason in contrast to a grossly negligent DEP decision,' Brier said. With the major permit modification that granted the expansion now back in the hands of the DEP, and with the DEP recently extending its review of the landfill's 10-year operating permit for six months through Oct. 6 in light of the Environmental Hearing Board's decision, Friends of Lackawanna members plan to continue their work. Dempsey wants the DEP to revoke the landfill's permit, saying, 'It's too big, it's too dangerous, and it's time to shut down.' 'What's next is to hammer that message home in whatever ways we can,' she said. 'This gave us another energy boost to mobilize and get the community behind us. It was a big win that definitely restored a lot of morale and momentum and has inspired us to continue the fight.' The role of local grassroots activism In light of their own grassroots efforts culminating by winning their appeal of the Keystone Sanitary Landfill's Phase III expansion, members of Friends of Lackawanna emphasized the importance of grassroots environmental activism. 'If you want to protect where you live, you have to take part,' core member Vince Amico said. 'You can't just wait and hope that somebody else, or the government, or another agency will take care of it for you.' Over the last decade, Lackawanna County residents have raised environmental concerns over a slew of projects, whether it's the landfill expansion, a natural gas-fired power plant in Jessup, warehousing projects or, most recently, data centers proposed for the of Lackawanna core member Sharon Cuff echoed Amico. 'Grassroots organizations are so important, especially today, and it gives a voice to the people who are directly affected by the issues,' she said. Amico encouraged anyone interested in environmental activism to pick a cause, research, stay positive and continue moving forward. 'You'll have setbacks,' he said. 'You can't let setbacks take you out.' If residents are willing to get their hands dirty, dig in and research, they can start to make a difference, core member Pat Clark said. Clark offered advice for fledgling environmental movements. 'Stay the course. If you believe in what you're fighting for, it ultimately will be worth it. Don't get discouraged when things don't go your way if you believe that you're correct in the end,' Clark said. 'Don't be afraid to punch back when you need to.' Jessup resident Jeff Smith, who is the vice chair of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the environmental nonprofit Sierra Club and an executive committee member of the Sierra Club's Northeastern Pennsylvania Group, was a founding member of Citizens for a Healthy Jessup — a similar grassroots effort formed in 2015 in opposition of the Lackawanna Energy Center natural gas-fired power plant. The Sierra Club also played a key role in Friends of Lackawanna's successful appeal of the landfill's Phase III expansion before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, joining Friends of Lackawanna as an intervening party with local Sierra Club members testifying to the panel of environmental judges. The local Sierra Club chapter will try to offer assistance to any local environmental groups, he said. 'The more people that we can help, the more people we can encourage, the more groups we can offer our support, whether it be financially, whether it be mentoring, whether it's some of our research, you name it, if we can offer it, we will help these groups prosper,' he said. 'It's part of our original beliefs — to build community.' Citizens for a Healthy Jessup took a similar approach to Friends of Lackawanna, operating as a nonprofit group with both political and environmental components, Smith said. 'Where would we be without these groups?' he said. 'Jessup would not have as lucrative of a host agreement. They would have industrial wastewater placed directly into the Lackawanna River.' Smith pointed to the information and research Friends of Lackawanna put forward. 'We're talking financially, the communities are better. The quality of the water, the quality of the air — without these people doing this hard work, where would we be as a community?' Smith said. 'That's why it's so important.' — FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DEP issues extension to Keystone Landfill for operation
DUNMORE, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an extension on the Keystone Sanitary Landfill's (KSL) operating permit on Friday. According to the release, the DEP has issued a six month extension to the landfill's existing operating permit for its facility in Dunmore and Throop. This renews the operating permit until October 6, 2025. The release states that the extension will allow sufficient time for the DEP to evaluate the landfill's renewal application considering a recent Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) decision issued on April 1, 2025, regarding the appeal of the landfill's Phase III Expansion. The department will also take into consideration the landfill's effectiveness in odor control and leachate management issues. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lackawanna County landfill causing controversy
THROOP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The treated liquid that permeates through garbage piles at a local landfill is causing quite a controversy Wednesday night. The landfill says it's all about coming up with new options, including a new route for the liquid to go. The Keystone Sanitary Landfill wants to discharge its treated leachate water through Throop's sewer system. It's not a route of water county residents here are fond of, but one the landfill says there's no problems with. Keystone Sanitary Landfill consultant Al Magnotta drank a sample of landfill water at a Throop borough meeting Wednesday night. He was trying to prove his point. 'The RO meets Pennsylvania drinking water standards,' Magnotta stated. RO stands for Reverse Osmosis, the water purification process that takes place at the landfill, but convincing the people who showed up at the meeting was easier said than done. 'Unless I saw it come out of that system and saw you drink it right there, I would never believe you,' said Throop resident James Baranak. The Keystone Sanitary Landfill proposed to discharge its treated 'leachate' through Throop's sewer system, which flows into the Lackawanna River Basin Sewer Authority's wastewater treatment plant. 'We deserve better than what they are planning,' said Susan Green. Home damaged after Madison Township fire The landfill currently uses Pennsylvania American Water as its discharge system. Magnotta says this new plan would be better, based on a recent hydraulic analysis. He says it detected several issues with the current system, including pipe separations and cracking. 'What we have, what you have, resembles a 100-year-old pipe system,' Magnotta explained. He says the old one has got to go. The new line would run through several wooded areas surrounded by many streets in Lackawanna County. The landfill is requesting permission from Throop Borough to flow leachate at their discretion.. Subject to wet weather. 'The foul odor is atrocious,' said Dunmore resident Olivia Jackson. Jackson is no stranger to the issue. She lives in a neighborhood where the current system runs. The Lackawanna County landfill recently underwent a large expansion, looking to triple its volume of waste by 94,000,000 tons. 'Leachate management is probably the most essential operation that must be maintained to operate a landfill,' Magnotta added. Magnotta says the landfill will not discharge treated leachate during a rain event. A verdict on the new system has yet to be decided at a future meeting. If the plan gets approval, Magnotta says it will look to restore the Throop sewer system and complete a thorough cleaning check. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Keystone Sanitary Landfill pays $15,000-plus fine for leachate violation
The Keystone Sanitary Landfill agreed to a $15,000-plus settlement with the state Department of Environmental Protection after it regularly stored too much leachate in its lagoons in 2023 and 2024. Landfill President Louis DeNaples signed a consent order and agreement with the DEP on March 5 that requires the landfill in Dunmore and Throop to pay a civil penalty of $15,487.50 for exceeding the 25% total leachate storage capacity at its lagoons. Leachate is the liquid that percolates through garbage piles. Landfill Business Manager Dan O'Brien and attorney Jeffrey Belardi also signed on behalf of Keystone. The agreement requires Keystone to continue corrective actions to limit similar violations in the future, the DEP said. The settlement In June, the DEP reviewed leachate storage amounts at the Louis and Dominick DeNaples-owned landfill's east and west lagoons and the 'Former Dunmore Fuel Oil Tank,' finding that 'KSL stored leachate in excess of 25% of its total leachate storage capacity on a regular basis,' according to the agreement. Leachate storage totals exceeded the maximum limit every month from October 2023 to June, according to the DEP. As of Sept. 30, the landfill had reduced its leachate to below 25% capacity. The storage violated state code and the Solid Waste Management Act, according to the agreement. The DEP sent the landfill a notice of violation June 11 that documented the violation and asked it to submit a plan and schedule to correct and prevent the violation. Keystone's response 10 days later listed measures it had already instituted to address the issue, including using temporary additional storage in aboveground tanks and hauling leachate off-site to permitted treatment facilities. The landfill also noted plans including installing a rain tarp to divert stormwater away from the leachate collection systems. As part of the settlement, Keystone cannot challenge or deny the department's findings on the matter. According to a compliance history included in the landfill's April operating permit renewal application, it was previously cited for the same violations, including on April 12, 2022, and Sept. 20, 2018. The new settlement comes a year after the landfill agreed to pay a $575,000 civil penalty in March 2024 that was the culmination of 14 odor-related violations since January 2023, close to 1,000 odor complaints in seven months and at least 70 instances of DEP staff detecting offsite landfill gas and leachate odors attributed to Keystone. The DEP touted the nearly $600,000 fine as the largest it had issued to Keystone. That settlement required 26 corrective actions to mitigate odors pertaining to leachate storage, leachate treatment and temporary and permanent covers for waste piles. New odor complaints Last month, the DEP sent Keystone a letter notifying it of numerous complaints related to landfill-associated odors. In the Feb. 18 letter, the DEP said it had received more than 195 complaints since Jan. 14 from residents in Throop, Dunmore, Olyphant, Scranton and Jefferson Twp., with 97 odor complains Jan. 31 alone. Three DEP staff members were dispatched to investigate the complaints that day; all three detected offsite odors attributed to landfill operations, according to the letter. The DEP received an additional 12 odor complaints Feb. 3. A member of DEP's emergency response team conducted a complaint investigation that day and detected offsite odors attributable to landfill operations in community areas. While the emergency response member did not enter the landfill, the odors detected were similar to Keystone's leachate and landfill gas odors, according to the letter. The letter gave the landfill 10 days to submit a plan and schedule addressing the control and minimization of its odors. The landfill responded Feb. 28, saying it was not the source of the 97 complaints Jan. 31. More so, of the 195 complaints, only a small number were verified by DEP staff, and four were incorrectly identified, business Manager Dan O'Brien wrote in the response letter, pointing to a UGI gas leak. During Keystone's offsite odor patrols, especially when barometric pressure is relatively low, landfill personnel have noticed a significant increase in sewer gas odors, which are more prevalent during the winter when traps on storm inlets have no water in them to create a seal, O'Brien said. 'There is no question that KSL is an easy target,' he wrote. 'Anytime there is any kind of odor within a 3-mile radius it is automatically assumed that it must be caused by the landfill.' He pointed to other potential sources of odor in the area, including 'numerous industrial facilities, an asphalt plant, solid waste transfer stations, public and privately owned wastewater treatment facilities, a mulch processing facility, a meat packing plant, the community's sewage, stormwater and combined sewer overflow systems … natural gas leaks, utility pipeline repair/replacement … stormwater retention basins, the major highway system surrounding the landfill, and off-site abandoned mine operations.' 'The situation is further exacerbated by Friends of Lackawanna encouraging anyone and everyone to call PADEP when there is an odor even when the complainant is not experiencing the odor,' he wrote, including screenshots of Jan. 12 and 31 Facebook posts by the landfill opposition group that include the DEP's complaint line phone number for logging odors. Pat Clark, a leader of Friends of Lackawanna, which formed in 2014 to oppose Keystone and its now-approved Phase III expansion, contended the landfill has had longstanding issues with leachate storage. He cited the 2024 consent order and the 14 odor violations contained in it, which the landfill agreed it would not challenge or deny the truth, accuracy or validity of the DEP's assertions. 'People take the time out of their day to call in the odors; the landfill thinks we make it up, yet the department continues to verify these are landfill odors, and the landfill says, 'Hey, it's not us,'' Clark said. 'To continually treat the citizens of Northeast Pennsylvania with such disregard that you're telling us we don't understand that the smell is coming from the landfill continues to be disingenuous at best and insulting at worst.' Keystone said it will review and evaluate its nuisance minimization and control plan, that it has completed tasks in its previous consent order to significantly reduce fugitive odors, that it is installing liners and shallow collectors, that it added a product to a concentrate tank to reduce hydrogen sulfide emissions — a rotten egg smell — and that it is working with a vendor to design and construct a vapor capture system for two new leachate holding tanks.
