Environmental group plans future action after landfill appeal denied
GROVE CITY, Mercer County — Dozens of Mercer County and Butler County residents, all fearing radioactive waste, packed into the East Main Presbyterian Church Wednesday night, Jan. 31.
Many of them were members of the Citizens' Environmental Association of Slippery Rock Area, who were there to plan their next moves after Pennsylvania’s Environmental Hearing Board denied CEASRA’s appeal of a waste permit granted to the Tri-County Landfill.
The permit, granted in December 2020 by Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, would allow potentially radioactive fracking waste material to be disposed at the site. On Jan. 8, the Environmental Hearing Board ruled in favor of the landfill and their operator, Vogel Holdings.
CEASRA member Jim Highland says he and the rest of the organization was stunned at the result of the appeal.
“If you would have been in the court and listened to the testimony, you'd feel the same way,” Highland said. “It was overwhelming what we presented compared to what they presented.”
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, can leave behind radioactive waste that can linger in soil and waterways for decades.
CEASRA is advancing its appeal to the Commonwealth Court. The group also has a second appeal to the hearing board ongoing, to prevent the landfill from draining potentially radioactive leachate into the Black Run stream and possibly contaminating the water.
The Tri-County Landfill, which straddles the line between Liberty and Pine townships in Mercer County, has been the subject of court battles since it was an unregulated dumping ground in the 1950s. A landfill previously operated at the site, but was closed in 1990 due to increased environmental regulations.
Since then, Tri-County has applied four separate times to the DEP to reopen a landfill at the site, and were finally successful in 2020. Barring a successful appeal, the landfill would take up 99 acres across both townships.
During Wednesday night’s meeting, CEASRA members accused Tri-County of lying on their permit application, by indicating that the landfill would not “have anything to do with oil or gas production.”
“In December, we deposed (Edward Vogel), and we said, ‘Why is it that you put no when the answer is yes?’” said CEASRA historian Jane Cleary. “And he said, ‘I misunderstood the question.’ He thought the question was, ‘Is there an oil well on the property?’”
“Well, he read the question five times, so I don't think he misunderstood the question.”
Members of CEASRA have also raised concerns about the landfill’s proximity to Grove City Airport, which is located 4 miles away. The organization fears trash at the landfill could attract birds, which could pose a danger to aircraft flying to and from the airport.
In denying CEASRA’s appeal, the Environmental Hearing Board wrote that the appellants had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the human costs of the landfill would outweigh the benefits. The hearing board also ruled the landfill’s representatives had demonstrated an effective mitigation plan against the threat of potential birdstrikes near the airport.
However, Cleary insists the mitigation plan that was demonstrated — patterned after a similar plan used at the Atlantic City Airport — has been shown not to work.
“The expert (Tri-County) hired was not an expert. He didn't have the right credentials,” Cleary said. “They said Atlantic City was a very successful example. Well, they’ve had 1,200 birdstrikes. So I don't know if it's that successful.”
Highland believes that CEASRA will have a better chance in the second phase of their appeal, when they take their case to the Commonwealth Court.
“All of the hard work we did is still there,” Highland said. “It's still part of the record, and it'll be part of the appeal going forward.”
