NorCo Judge Abe Kassis has put the brakes on the controversial planned expansion of Bethlehem Landfill in Lower Saucon To. At a crowded meeting right before Christmas last year (Dec. 21), Lower Saucon Tp Council voted 3-2 to approve zoning changes that would allow the dump to add 275.7 acres to the dump site. This will more than double the existing 212 acres.
Council members Jason Banonis, Thomas Carocci and Mark Inglis voted Yes, while Sandra Yerger and Priscila deLeon said No.
This enlargement was panned by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission as contrary to the "health, safety and welfare" of the Lehigh Valley.
A zoning appeal was filed by prominent Easton Attorney Gary Asteak on behalf of Bruce and Ginger Petrie, Lawrence and Margaret Opthof, Frank Palumbo and Robert and Cynthia McKellin.
Judge Kassis has declared the ordinance void ab initio (on its face). Lower Saucon Township Council failed to follow proper procedures to enact the ordinance. Lower Saucon can appeal this ruling or just redo the ordinance.
Attorney Asteak hailed the ruling as a 'huge victory for those who stood up to the landfill." He added that "the Township rushed to judgment under pressure of landfill money." I also reached out to Lower Saucon Tp Solicitor B. Lincoln Treadwell for his reaction to Judge Kassis' invalidation of the ordinance. "I'll evaluate it, discuss it with my client and we'll take it from there, " he said.
Updated 3:07 PM
Landfill Ruling by BernieOHare on Scribd
17 comments:
Yet another reason to love Judge Kassis.
Trash piling up in the streets is contrary to the health, safety and welfare of the residents. That a govt agency would issue such an inaccurate and pandering statement is absurd. Why don't we just build an incinerator? or focus on reducing packaging materials? These are things Americans are unwilling to consider. So, what's the plan people? This is critical infrastructure, not a strip club.
There is plenty of space available for more appropriate landfill sites, stop with the hyperbole. The board of supervisors appears to have been packed by the landfill, amd they're attempting to undo decades of good planning and land preservation efforts.
Landfill money is an addiction. It looks like taxpayers are about to get some seriously expensive cold turkey. Shouldn't voters decide these local issues vs judges? The ordinance was created at the request of a governing majority that was elected by a majority of voters. If the language is poor, then shame on their solicitor for shabby work. Can't voters correct these decisions if they chose - as was done in the inverse in Williams Twp a few years ago?
"There is plenty of space available for more appropriate landfill sites, stop with the hyperbole"
Please by all means, enlighten us on the location that is more suitable. What criteria are you using to speculate on the appropriate new landfill site? Soils, depth to groundwater, slope stability, permeability, faults, etc. or are you just talking out of your ass, because you are opposed to the expansion. I'm sure the residents that occupy the plenty of space available will be happy to have you site a landfill in their backyard.
The supervisors were elected by the township residents, not the landfill. Stop with the hyperbole.
I'll tell you which locations are more appropriate. One that isn't immediately adjacent to the Lehigh River, one that isn't affecting a major trail network, one that isn't under a freaking conservation easement, which are intended to be permanent. Throwing out a lot of terms you think are fancy (they're not) isn't impressive. I'm an environmental professional and have working in the industry for going on 20 years.
What is impressive is the $75,000 the landfill company dumped into the supervisors race. What's also impressive is how these "elected public servants" have been shutting down public discussion and packing the advisory boards.
And how about the 140 acres the City of Bethlehem sold last year to the landfill company for $10,000? 71 bucks per acre is a hell of a deal, isn't it?
This smacks of obvious corruption, and they're trying to railroad it through before voters kick them out.
No Lower Saucon Landfill and it's revenue, no Lower Saucon Police Department.
Thank you, Judge Kassis
3:42 please enlighten us as to how money does not affect elections? Why did the landfill people give so much money to certain candidates in a typically low profile political race?? Maybe because they wanted something?? Don't be naive.
"I'm an environmental professional and have working in the industry for going on 20 years."
Wow!, me too! I started my career as an intern for an engineering shop that designed landfills as one arm of their business. At that time, they were working on a design for a landfill somewhere upstate that was in the preliminary stages of development. It was never built and that was about 25 years ago. The project area checked all the boxes for site suitability but was torpedoed by local opposition. Truth be told, you cannot build a new landfill these days, hence all the expansion applications.
You are very emotional on the issue, and this may cause you to ignore some obvious facts. These supervisors were elected by the people, like it or not. Current landfill capacity will all but dry up in the next ten years without expansion or new solid waste management options. I'll speculate on the sale of the ground at 71 "bucks" per acre. Maybe it was to secure guaranteed airspace in the new expansion?
It's quite easy to oppose a landfill expansion when the trash is picked up every week. What will you do when the garbage man doesn't come?
4:50 - It does, and the landfill absolutely wanted supervisors pragmatic enough to realize we need critical infrastructure to manage solid waste. But the residents still voted for the supervisors in the end. So, does that mean the voters are corrupt or just naive? Or does the majority of the residents not oppose the expansion?
9:30am- A a very loud, vocal minority is opposed to the Landfill and and even louder group is opposed to the expansion.
Unfortunately, the current Lower Saucon Council have turned off many voters due to decisions unrelated to the Landfill and will most likely be voted out.
In related area news, similar issues have been going on with the Saucon Valley School Board.
Therefore, I predict that we'll be seeing a new-ish Lower Saucon Council and Saucon Valley School Board after the elections.
You frame the issue here as a "we need landfills therefore this project must go through". This is a total strawman. It's the same line used on the warehouse issue. "Oh, don't like it, stop shopping on Amazon" and so on. Doesn't change the fact that certain projects fly in the face of good planning and land management.
You talk in generalities, when what matters here are the specific problems with *this* site, the bullying from certain supervisors, and the wider regional implications for undermining the permanence of conservation easements. This is not another NIMBY situation. The landfill was planned, concessions and buffer zones were established as a compromise. Now they're trying to essentially rescind that compromise. New landfill developments are difficult, yes, but for good reason.
Banonis and Carroci are at the center of the corruption in Lower Saucon. They are a cancer to local politics, and they are spreading their ways to Upper Saucon.
You're smoking and not sharing...
@1:09 I absolutely agree. But I cannot figure out how those two would benefit from the landfill expansion in a way that would justify the way they are ramming it through, destroying public participation in township meetings, and bullying councilwoman DeLeon at every opportunity in the process. These are two guys who appear very well-off financially and have no stake in any business or property relating to the landfill that I can figure out. Yes, the landfill contributed to their campaigns ($75k?) but beyond that I cannot understand what's in it for them. The company that owns the landfill is a big, publicly-traded company that probably can't get away with mailing these guys boxes full of cash, so I'm really intrigued by what Banonis & Carocci's bigger motives are.
@6:19 - Banonis and Carroci are in bed with Spirk (Steel Club). Steel Club expansion, as well as Banonis' little dispute with Hellertown zoning, are a few of the issues at the root of their motivations. They went so far with their antics involving a host of combined services between Hellertown and LS that they found themselves in a position where they could not save face. Because they could not extract their reputations from this debacle, they have now spent far north of $100,000 in legal fees to bolster their sagging egos.
The slate of Blair, Ingles, and Yerger is a shallow attempt to put two stooges in place alongside the walking dead named Yerger.
Example: " The LST councils' weak attempt to create and offer a "yard-waste dropoff" is pathetic. Great cooperation existed between Hellertown and LS at the compost center. Now, LS residents are relegated to a poorly thought-out disposal site. The site is not even the final step for the lawn material; it will be transported to Coopersburg for processing. Where is the kickback there? Who received a no-bid contract for this job?
Banonis and Carroci are not real Republicans. They are crude and selfish, and they do NOT listen or serve their constituency.
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