BOGGS TOWNSHIP – Officials from Clearfield County as well as municipalities that could be affected by the proposed Camp Hope Run Landfill, invited private citizens and members of the media gathered at the Lighthouse Evangelical Church in Boggs Township Thursday to hear about the landfill application process through the Department of Environmental Protection and what PA Waste LLC plans to do should the project gain approval.
Much of what Randy Wood of Marshall Miller Associates, engineers for PA Waste, was information heard by Boggs Township residents in the past, such as its proposed location, plans for hauling and the landfill liner.
Wood said that for more than two years, the proposed site, seven miles southeast of Clearfield along state Route 153, has been investigated.
Part of that work was to conduct a traffic study that, according to Wood, showed that the proposed route (Interstate 80 at exit 120 to SR 879 at the Park Avenue Exit and onto SR 153) can handle the traffic. He said that the estimated 250 truck-loads of trash that would be brought to the landfill when it is at peak acceptance would mean 32 trucks per hour during an eight-hour period. However, he noted that the landfill plans to run a 10-hour day meaning fewer trucks each hour.
As part of the study, it was suggested that a traffic signal may be required at the Park Avenue exit of SR 879.
Wood said that the landfill project would be beneficial in that it would clean up a brownfield site, one in which acid mine drainage is affecting nearby water. Should the landfill be built, he said, the acid rock would be placed into the lined landfill where it will not affect the water supply.
The waste company had proposed hours of 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday with Saturday hours of 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. The landfill would be closed Sunday. The Boggs Township Supervisors voted in November to amend an ordinance so that waste hauling was allowed Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays and 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. weekends. Wood said PA Waste will need to strike a compromise should the landfill permit be granted.
One area of contention that Wood addressed was a fear that trucks would stage, that is, wait to be permitted into the facility, along SR 153, creating congestion and unsafe conditions. Wood said a truck parking are will be provided at the facility’s entrance. That area will be placed far away from public roads and adjacent properties.
Wood did highlight two potential benefits to Boggs Township residents if the landfill is given approval. The first would benefit all residents with them receiving free waste disposal at the landfill. The other is that those living in the western portion of the township would benefit from a sewerage treatment plant that would also treat leachate from the landfill.
He also pointed out that there would be an economic benefit of more than $429 million over the life of the landfill through employee wages, the host municipality agreement and other payments and an estimated indirect benefit to the area of three times that amount.
Look at GantDaily’s LMIP page on the Local News channel for more stories on Thursday’s meeting.