Nov 19, 2017 4 min read

SLOVAN – Enough citizens packed the Smith Township building’s small meeting room Thursday to force some to stand wherever they could find room as the crowd pressed supervisors about a company’s application to build a new residual-waste landfill in Bulger.

Those who opposed the project got their wish. Supervisors voted 3-0 to deny conditional-use approval for Greentree-based MAX Environmental Technologies to build the roughly 21-acre landfill at its facility there, which primarily handles debris from brownfield site development and Marcellus shale drill cuttings. The facility has operated since 1958 and was previously owned by Mill Service.

“We work for the people,” said Supervisor Anthony Gianfrancesco after the meeting. “And I heard them loud and clear. We try to do our best for Smith Township.”

He said the “biggest reason” for his vote was that “they weren’t going to start for two to three years and they were in front of us.”

The planning commission recommended approving the plans. Township engineer Veronica Bennett of Harshman CE Group said during a hearing last month the company met all requirements for conditional-use approval for the landfill.

“We expected it to be approved,” company manager Carl Spadaro said. “We’re disappointed.”

Asked whether the company would appeal the decision, Spadaro said MAX would review the township’s letter of denial, which was expected to be sent out Monday, and confer with legal counsel.

Before the vote, township officials insisted their zoning rules required them to approve the application, with “reasonable conditions.” Solicitor Michael Cruny – who’d drawn up a risk of 32 proposed conditions – said the board was “pre-empted to tell them they cannot put that there.”

Supervisors Chairman Tom Schilinski said the township could be “up for maybe going back to court” if supervisors denied the application, but ultimately voted to do so.

MAX has not yet begun applying for state approval also needed for the project. Local officials’ approval is a factor the Department of Environmental Protection weighs during that process.

Many in the crowd of roughly 40 people voiced concerns about MAX’s plans to begin accepting technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials, or TENORM – which can be found in oil and gas waste – at the new landfill.

Pennsylvania landfills can receive DEP permission to accept TENORM – which Spadaro said isn’t classified as radioactive waste – subject to a monthly cap.

Brenda Vance of Robinson Township argued supervisors’ denial wouldn’t present a hardship for MAX while its plans for the new landfill are still several years out, and the company could still seek DEP approval regardless.

“Two or three years gives us time to see what this TENORM is, see what harm can come from it, see how it can be better handled,” Vance said.

Spadaro said the state has “strict controls on the kind of waste that can be disposed of and landfill design.” He added TENORM is “managed very safely and we would manage it very safely at Bulger.”

Cruny argued the specific materials that could go into the landfill would be up to DEP, not the township. The conditions he prepared included requirements for MAX to provide notice of hearings and public-comment periods, so supervisors and citizens could participate in the state approval process.

DEP spokeswoman Lauren Fraley said in an email the agency “will review MAX’s application in accordance with current DEP regulations with respect to the acceptance and management of TENORM containing waste materials. The regulations provide for host township involvement in the review of the application.”

Still, Bulger resident Cathy Lodge urged supervisors to apply stricter conditions than those they proposed, or deny the application “until more information is provided.”

“It is time that you supervisors show that you have concerns for the citizens, and that you are willing to protect rather than catering to industry,” Lodge added.

John Evans, who said he’s lived in Bulger since 1951, asked supervisors to “take a hard look” at the proposal.

“We were here before them,” he said. “It’s not the other way around.”