HARRISBURG – State Rep. Camille “Bud” George, D-74 of Houtzdale, hailed the state Department of Environmental Protection’s voiding of a permit sought to build a residual-waste landfill on 677 acres in Chest Township.
“The hard work and persistence of local citizens and officials have been rewarded with the dead permit,” Rep. George said. “Their efforts are an inspiration for those fighting unneeded and unwanted landfills proposed in Boggs and Rush townships.
“Efforts to dump as much as 2,500 tons of residual waste a day at a site clearly unsuitable for such an endeavor are not extinct,” Rep. George said. “However, the plans are about as dead as they can be at this point.”
Rep. George noted that the company seeking to build the Royal Oaks Landfill about two miles from state Route 36 in Chest Township — Eagle Environmental II of Altoona — was sold recently, and any efforts to resurrect the proposal will be starting from square one.
In January, the DEP denied Eagle Environmental’s permit-renewal application, noting that the company had not complied with the construction schedule listed in the permit issued by the Ridge administration in August 2001. The permit was approved even after the original application was denied in November 1996 because of deficiencies dealing with bedrock fracturing, ground settlement and coal-related concerns.
“Local residents and the Chest Township Concerned Citizens Against Landfill have fought tooth-and-nail for two decades to protect their community,” said Rep. George, who wrote the DEP a year ago asking that the permit renewal be denied “in the sake of decency, fairness and public safety.”
“The voiding of the permit is testament to their determination,” Rep. George said.
Rep. George said the community scored an important legal victory last fall when the state Supreme Court upheld the state’s harms versus benefits test that maintains that social and economic benefits from a new or expanded landfill must clearly outweigh known and potential environmental harms.
In October 2001, Eagle Environmental challenged its environmental assessment, only to be rebuffed by the Environmental Hearing Board, Commonwealth Court and finally, the state Supreme Court.
Rep. George, Democratic chairman of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said his House Bill 326 would help communities fighting unneeded and unwanted landfills by freezing landfill applications for three years and providing more local control.
“Chest Township residents are winning this fight,” Rep. George said. “However, it shouldn’t be so costly and time-consuming to protect the nature and character of a community.”