Landfills located in both Lower Saucon and Plainfield Townships want to expand. The owners dangle financial carrots in the form of host fees, taxes and other financial incentives that make it hard to say No. But many residents wish they would. They are unsightly, smell and no matter how hard landfills try, pollutants always leech into the surrounding groundwater. But what's the alternative? Incineration is said to be worse. Dumping garbage in the ocean destroys our ecosystem. I'd really like to know. Until we can find a reasonable alternative, attempts at expansion will continue, and opposition will be fierce. The battle for Grand Central's expansion is just getting started, but the fight over the expansion of Lower Saucon's landfill is in full swing. Standing in one corner is Easton attorney Gary Asteak, representing the Citizens for Responsible Development. In the opposite corner are Bethlehem Landfill's corporate lawyers, being cheered on by two Trumpion Council members who pride themselves in disrupting meeting after meeting in what has become the most dysfunctional local government in the Lehigh Valley. And that's saying something.
Asteak has sued to stop the expansion. At one time, the City of Bethlehem owned and operated the Bethlehem landfill. It also owned surrounding tracts. In 1994, it adopted two conservation easements and a woodland easement. The conservation easements preserve 208 acres of landfill property for scenic and conservation purposes and specifically exclude landfills. The woodland easement, which applies to 8 acres, is intended to preserve undisturbed woodland. It was binding on both the City and future owners to preserve the Delaware and Lehigh Canal Heritage corridor as well as "the original character and scenic nature of the land."
In 2023, Lower Saucon Tp voted to release these easements, but did so without the approval of the Orphans’ Court under the Donated or Dedicated Property Act (DDPA). Because the Township failed to take this step, and admits it never sought approval. Attorney Asteak contends the releases are invalid.
He has filed what is known as a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. Based on his assertions and the Township's admission, he contends the releases must be set aside as a matter of law.
Good argument, but the question still remains - what would we do without landfills?
23 comments:
Basically, we are up the creek without a paddle. At this time there is no simple or economically feasible solution. Incineration is indeed more expensive and dirtier than landfills. Recycling has not made a significant reduction in trash over the last 10 years. The Carbone Decision in the mid 1990s prohibits out of state trash from being denied.
There are 3 landfills in Norco. When one ends up closing it is only going to speed up the closing of the other two. That will also mean that the cost of hauling and disposal will increase.
In today's green and environmentally focused world, landfills are a hypocritical statement for sure. Many don't understand that much of the so-called recycling, ends up in landfills. as China has ended its purchase of these products. Landfills are the out of sight out of mind for those who profess to be environmentalists.
As a society we have refused to look for alternatives, one would be incineration and then separation and recycling. This would avoid leaving this mess for the next generation. It could be done, if there was a willingness. The heat could be used for electricity or steam, like the basin street incinerator of the past.
I live in the country, so all my food waste is put on a pile, next to the garden, all the protein and bones are is usually gone by morning, the rest is compost. Paper, plastic and anything that burns, is burned, most prefer a landfill for their defendants to deal with. That leaves cans and glass, which goes to recycling and is only necessary a couple time a year.
Trash is big business. Hopefully technology will help come up with a better way to dispose of it.
California, Washington and Oregon
Conservation easements should be permanent. Elected officials shouldn't be able to vote them away in exchange for corporate donations or deals.
Kudos to the three democrats in Saucon who've been standing strong while putting up with unimaginable abuse from their Republican colleagues for the last two years.
It's a profound question. For that matter what would we do without water plants, sewer plants, electrical power stations, transmission lines, highways, and other public needs?
People rarely think about where their garbage goes, or what has to happened to flush a toilet, turn on a tap and get water, throw a light switch and get light or how deliveries are made to our front door sometimes in under 24 hours----but EVERYONE is ready to cry NIMBY!
With the Fifth Amendment, the Founders recognized that every once in a while some private individual simply must be inconvenienced by the power of eminent domain---the taking of private property for public use WITH just compensation. The issues are twofold: 1) how does a privately owned company create or expand when they don't have the power of condemnation? and 2) what IS a public use?
I take no sides, except to observe that NIMBY attitudes are costing everyone a lot of money, and when government and others look to fret over "affordable housing", they need only look in the mirror over how "forever land use wars" drive up costs for everyone.
This whole post just stinks... see what I did there? Looks like the high priced lawyers in their rush missed a step or two and are gonna get bouned.
Closing landfills is short-term thinking. Landfills can be reclaimed and made into biodiverse areas that support a variety of plants and wildlife and recreational uses. It costs millions and takes around 20-25 years. Fresh Kill on Staten Island and Croton in the Hudson Valley are good examples. Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach attracts millions of visitors annually to its nature trails, athletic fields and concert venue.
Two years ago we visited my cousin and her husband in Sardinia, the second-largest island in Italy. They were preparing to move back to the UK for medical treatments too far (other side of Connecticut-sized island with narrow roads) from their small beach town. Everything they weren’t bringing back had to go. “Where’s the landfill?”, I asked her. “There isn’t one. We’re responsible for breaking down and recycling everything.”
Their little town has multi-stream recycling, at least seven different collections ranging from a couple of times a week for dry things to every other day for food waste/compost. And the municipality is serious about it.
We drove back roads a lot and so no significant evidence of dumping. People really do disassemble and recycle their stuff. And they have the same stuff as we do - big-screenTVs, electronics, IKEA and grandma’s furniture.
Side note: we wanted to look at a fire station in town. There isn’t one like here. All their buildings are stone.
In Plainfield, decades of planning went into preparing for the closure of the Grand Central Landfill. A $16M Host fund was created to help transition away from a landfill economy, yet, when the expansion from WM was denied, their cronies were elected into office touting "change". What did we get? Decades more of the same old landfill economy that has our towns living in poverty. The only change we get is the leftovers WM is willing to give the community when they want something. It'll dry back up once again after they get their approvals from these "leaders".
Just look at the data, the local community's average family incomes when compared to the County as a whole are well below average in this landfill economy. But even with an overwhelming public outcry to block the zoning expansion, the supervisors living in the opposite end of the township decided our communities should remain getting the scraps WM hands out to us.
WM cared so much about our communities they proposed a "Poop Bakery" sludge plant to spark our economy. Remember that sales pitch?
Barron leaving the County?
Landfills are a necessary evil and I recognized that. I felt sorry for folks that lived near them, was glad I did not, but figured it was just another nimby thing. Then I heard that the Bethlehem landfill served Northampton, Lehigh, Berks, Bucks, and Montgomery counties. If that is true that is terrible. Not only does a small but pretty densely populated area have to deal with their own trash but a whole lot more trash from distant locations, and not just the trash but the heavy trucks that bring it in and break up the roads, spew exhaust, make noise, and increase traffic all the while the landfill operators make money. So that just stinks. Berks, Bucks, and Montgomery counties have large expenses of land that people don't live on and they should have their own landfills and we can stop enlarging ours.
I know where we can make a new landfill, Bangor. I mean it is a dying community and they did elect John Brown ad Mayor so there is no redeeming value in the entire area. JB can get a paycheck for allowing it, maybe he can be a fake consultant for the trash people
You may want to rethink burning paper and plastic, especially next to your garden. Take pity on your down wind neighbors.
Multiple issues to discuss but I prefer not having jersey and other states trash come here. Let them deal with their own trash
Wilson should take the money and permit a landfill at the old Pfizer site. They'll get paid while the stench blows in the prevailing wind toward Easton. It will eventually be reclaimed as a beautiful nature preserve and recreation destination.
...a sludge treatment plant that could have generated a great deal of tax revenue and fees. Now Plainfield has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to stop Nazareth Municipal Authority from spreading the sludge directly on open fields in the Township. Genius!
Let’s be honest, Waste Management is greedy. Period. Stop hauling in trash from all over and just deal with local trash if you’re running out of space… which they’ve been claiming for at least 40 years! And no one wants your dirty, nasty sludge. Destroying farmland for garbage is a sin.
Says the guy who gives no value to ‘quality of life’. I feel sorry for you. Money shouldn’t be so important that you’d want your neighbors to be stunk out of their homes.
Please don’t run for political office any time soon.
I already have two neighbors who regularly burn much trash. This occurs even though owners are instructed to contact the Fire Chief before any burning in Forks Township. What a joke. Have to close my window. Current rules were made to address controlled burns from farmers. We have a well-run compost center that could take that material. Wood cabinets are not appropriate for backyard bonfire! And what farms are doing controlled burns in Forks?
Rumor in Bethlehem has it that sixteen garbage receptacles came at a cost of thirty two thousand dollars. Now that should help the so called climate control
The biggest landfill in the Commonwealth is at 2035 N. Front St., Harrisburg. We should dump all our trash there.
Waste is a billion-dollar industry and unfortunately the industry wants disposal to remain the same. Waste Management wants/requires residents to use 96-gallon containers with an automated truck for fewer employees. Our home only usually generates about 16 gallons a week. But you are forced to use the containers provided. The truck in massive amounts of waste from other States.
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