A recycling operation in Taylor applied with the state Department of Environmental Protection to undergo improvements to resume landfill operations for construction and demolition waste.
Environmental & Recycling Services Inc. at 1100 Union St., formerly the Amity Landfill, is seeking a major permit modification to use a synthetic liner and leachate collection system as part of its Phase IV approved area, according to a public notice in The Sunday Times. Leachate is the liquid that percolates through waste piles.
Environmental & Recycling Services Inc., or ERSI, began operations in the early 1970s as the Amity Landfill, operations manager Scott Haan said in a phone interview Friday. As a landfill, it hauled in municipal solid waste until the late 1980s before moving to construction and demolition waste, or C&D waste, Haan said. ERSI stopped operating as a C&D waste landfill in 2015 and has since only been a C&D waste recycling operation, but if the DEP approves their application, they would resume their landfill operations for C&D waste, Haan said.
According to the DEP, C&D waste is solid waste resulting from the construction or demolition of buildings and other structures, including wood, plaster, metals, asphaltic substances, bricks, block and unsegregated concrete. C&D waste makes up about 17.5% of Pennsylvania’s municipal waste stream.
The DEP requested that ERSI use a liner, which would be used to line and cap new waste coming in, Haan said. The liner would also be placed over some of the old waste so new waste could be placed on top of it, which would then be capped off, he said.
“What I see it as is that the water that rains on the site now will now be capped on everything, so with the cap over top of everything, there will be no more production of the leachate,” Haan said. “That’s a huge benefit.”
The landfill previously used natural attenuating soil, he said. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, natural attenuation relies on natural processes to decrease or “attenuate” concentrations of contaminants in soil and groundwater.
ERSI would also collect its leachate, with options including to treat it on site or have it trucked offsite for treatment, Haan said.
Taylor Borough Council President Ken Mickavicz said his borough engineer and solicitor are aware of the project. Their engineer has to review the calculations in the application to determine whether Taylor’s borough-owned sanitary sewer lines could handle the flow of leachate, Mickavicz said.
The Lower Lackawanna Valley Sanitary Authority has to do the same, he said. The LLVSA encompasses Taylor and Old Forge in Lackawanna County, as well as Avoca, Dupont and Duryea in Luzerne County.
Officials will also determine what treatment, if any, would be required if the leachate is sent through the sewer lines, Mickavicz said, pointing to LLVSA, state and federal regulations.
Mickavicz said several residents contacted him requesting that the borough ask the DEP to hold a public hearing on the application. He expects to discuss it during council’s next work session on Monday.
“I’m assuming the majority of the council, if not unanimously, agree to have DEP conduct a public hearing so that the residents’ concerns are at least addressed,” he said.
The largest concern among residents stems from an incident about two decades ago when a smell from the landfill forced the evacuation of Riverside High School, Mickavicz said, recalling a rotten egg smell.
According to the public notice on Sunday, after the DEP determines the major permit modification is administratively complete, copies will be submitted to Taylor’s municipal office as well as the Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission. The host municipality and county can then submit recommendations for permit conditions, revisions, permit approval or disapproval and other comments within 60 days of receiving the complete applications.
The DEP will also accept and consider public comments during the permit’s Phase II technical design/operations review.
In an email Thursday afternoon, DEP spokeswoman Patti Monahan said the department reviewed the application and accepted it for completeness.
Taylor Borough Council will discuss ERSI’s application during its work session at 7 p.m. Monday at the Municipal Building, 122 Union St., according to a meeting agenda.