June 29, 2006
by Jaime Bumbarger
Mo Valley Bureau Chief
Reproduced with permission.

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PHILIPSBURG— The state Department of Environmental Protection established a 21-month time table to review the permit application for a proposed landfill in Rush Township.

The maximum time period to approve or deny the permit application was negotiated between DEP, applicant Resource Recovery LLC, host municipality Rush Township and the host County of Centre at last night's Local Municipal Involvement Process meeting.

LMIP meetings are not open to the public, but representatives of the host municipality and county; state legislators; municipalities adjacent to Rush Township, within one mile of the proposed site or located along the proposed approach routes; and People Protecting Communities, a citizens' group opposing the landfill, were invited to attend.

According to DEP policy, the purpose of the LMIP meeting is to allow the applicant the opportunity to thoroughly explain the permit application to municipal officials, DEP to explain the application review process and public involvement steps, and municipalities to voice their concerns or questions before a formal review of the application takes place.

Representatives of the ARM Group Inc., engineers for RRLLC, detailed its plans to construct a landfill on a 5,758-acre parcel of land straddling Rush and Snow Shoe townships. The 274-acre footprint will be located solely within Rush Township and is expected to have an operational life of 28 years.

Since it was first proposed in May 2004, the plan has drawn either fierce support or harsh criticism.

Philipsburg Borough was invited to attend the LMIP meeting, but opted not to go. In a letter dated May 26 to DEP's David Garg, John Knowles, borough manager, wrote, "Philipsburg Borough has consistently viewed the landfill as a Rush Township issue that will have no negative effect upon Philipsburg."

The letter continued that the borough supports a proposed interchange to access the site because of safety and because it could "assist in the economic recovery of the rural central Pennsylvania."

Also, the letter said an industrial park that is proposed as part of the project "would have a positive effect on the whole area."

Rush Township supervisors Jack Shannon and Pat Couturiaux also claimed the development will spur economic growth in the Moshannon Valley.

While proponents tout the economic benefits that will befall an already-depressed area, opponents say the effects on the environment, health and safety is too costly.

Bob Jacobs, planning director, said there were several outstanding issues that needed to be resolved before the process moves forward. He alleged the proposal is inconsistent with the county's long-range plans, something that RRLLC has challenged in court. Also, there has been no resolution to the on-going transportation issue.

Developers intend on accessing the proposed site via a privately-funded interchange off Interstate 80, but the county's transportation planning agency has consistently refused to include the road project in its long-range transportation plan. In March, the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization deferred taking action on the matter until DEP issues a permit for the landfill.

Despite the setback, a Point of Access Study for the interchange was submitted to the state Department of Transportation for review, and the landfill permit application speaks at great length about accessing the site via I-80. DEP officials did not comment directly on the transportation issue but said that if "assumptions" are included in the application and they fall through, the review process would be delayed.

Cooper Township officials, who said they felt their voices fell on deaf ears for the past two years, thought they finally had the opportunity to voice their concerns at the LMIP meeting. "It's not benefiting anyone but Rush Township," Charles Saggese, Cooper Township supervisor, said before the meeting. "It's going to hurt us in the long run."

Separated from the site by only the Red Moshannon, the Clearfield County municipality learned its concerns were best left to be said at a public meeting and hearing that would be scheduled during the harms and benefits analysis process.

"There's lot of opportunity for public participation in this process," said DEP's David Garg, deflecting many specific concerns to the later meeting.

Now that the LMIP meeting has been held, DEP will complete an administrative review of the application to determine if it is complete. At that time, a harms versus benefits review will begin, and a public meeting and hearing will be held.

According to the timeline negotiated last night, that process could begin within the next couple months. If the benefits are determined to clearly outweigh the harms, a technical review will commence. If not, the application is denied.

Additional public meetings and hearings would be scheduled during the multi-staged technical review process. At the end of the technical review, DEP would again make a decision whether to recommend the permit's approval or deny the application.

In order to complete all the steps, DEP originally suggested a 19 1/2 month to 24 1/2 month time frame for review.

Mr. Jacobs sided with a longer review process or possibly the suspension of the process entirely until litigation issues and the interchange issues are resolved.

Rush Township supervisor Steve Knowles also supported a longer review process to make sure all the "T's are crossed and I's are dotted," but fellow superivors, Mr. Couturiaux and Mr. Shannon, lobbied for a shorter time frame.

"Every month costs Rush Township $300,000," Mr. Shannon said of the lost revenue from host tipping fees. "That money could be put to better use now than later," he said, citing much-needed improvements in infrastructure as one possible use for the funds.

Mr. Couturiaux said the area is hurting from the closing of Philipsburg Area Hospital and said the development could help alleviate some of the issues facing Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District.

DEP, Rush Township, RRLLC and Centre County compromised and finally agreed upon a 21-month maximum time period for the review process. The time period only includes the time DEP will review the application, not any time permitted for the applicant to respond to concerns, meaning the actually process could be considerably longer.

Overall, attendees said they were satisfied with the 2-1/2–hour meeting's outcome and praised DEP for the meeting. JoAnn Gillette of PPC and Mike Savage, a Rush Township resident also with PPC, said the meeting was very informative and shed a lot of light on what the future entails.

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