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State Permission for Landfill Work Proper, Court Says: The County Commissioners May Appeal a Ruling That Supports the Department of Environmental Protection's Decision on Expanding Pioneer Crossing.

Posted on: Friday, 3 March 2006, 09:00 CST

By Mary E. Young, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Mar. 3--The state Department of Environmental Protection properly issued an expansion permit to Pioneer Crossing Landfill in Exeter Township, according to a Commonwealth Court decision available Thursday.

The ruling upheld a state Environmental Hearing Board decision supporting DEP and going against the county commissioners, who believe the department incorrectly concluded the community benefits of the 67-acre expansion outweighed the potential harms.

"At some point within the next 30 days, the commissioners need to decide whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court," Commissioner Mark C. Scott said. "It might be a worthwhile appeal."

Scott said he and Commissioners Judith L. Schwank and Thomas W. Gajewski Sr. would meet with their environmental attorneys to discuss the implications of a recent Supreme Court decision he believes supports the commissioners' position.

In that case, Eagle Environmental on behalf of its Royal Oak Landfill in Chest Township, Clearfield County, challenged the constitutionality of the harms-benefits analysis.

The Supreme Court concluded the analysis is constitutional, but the benefits must be directly related to the project itself. Therefore, items such as charitable contributions, host fees and road improvements should not be considered benefits.

Landfill attorney William F. Fox Jr. said appealing to the Supreme Court would be a waste of taxpayer money for several reasons.

Commonwealth Court concluded the county should have raised the issue of the direct relationship between the project and the benefits in its original appeal to the Environmental Hearing Board, instead of waiting until the Eagle case was decided in October, Fox said.

The ruling also states Commonwealth Court still would have found that the expansion permit was proper even if the county had raised the issues in a timely way, he said.

The Supreme Court does not rule on issues not raised properly in a lower court, Fox said.

In addition, the new landfill cells have been built and are being filled with trash, he said.

"To throw further taxpayer money into lawyer fees on this would not be a good use of money," Fox said.

The amount of money the county has spent on the case was unavailable Thursday.

According to the Commonwealth Court decision, DEP and the environmental hearing board were correct to conclude that benefits, such as a recycling drop-off center, restoration of a park and use of landfill gas as a power source, outweighed potential harms, such as a decrease in property values and property taxes.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Reading Eagle, Pa.

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Source: Reading Eagle

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