- Representatives for Bethlehem Landfill presented a development proposal Thursday that would add 86 acres of trash disposal to the site
- The landfill's plans to expand have met stiff opposition since a proposal was unveiled last year
- If approved, the addition would give Bethlehem Landfill about 20 more years of operation
LOWER SAUCON TWP., Pa. — Representatives for Bethlehem Landfill presented plans Thursday to expand onto 86 acres near the Lehigh River, the landfill’s latest step forward in a contentious ongoing bid to extend its useful life.
Lawyer for the landfill company Marianne Garber and project engineer Joe McDowell explained the proposal at a township planning commission meeting Thursday night.
Because only two of the commission’s seven members were present, the body did not have enough members to deliberate or take any action.
During her pitch, Garber emphasized that many aspects of the landfill’s operations, like the amount of trash it takes in per day, its hours of operation and the routes trucks take to use the landfill would remain the same if the expansion moves forward.
“It's an expansion that's going to allow for the existing Bethlehem landfill to continue its business operation as usual.”Lawyer for the landfill company Marianne Garber
“It's an expansion that's going to allow for the existing Bethlehem landfill to continue its business operation as usual,” she said. “This project will allow the business to continue.”
The new expansion would add about 20 years to the landfill’s lifespan. Without it, it has enough space for just over four and a half years of garbage, according to a document the landfill presented in previous conditional use hearings.
The plans, filed Sept. 11, show new garbage disposal covering 86 acres, a smaller footprint than expansion plans originally submitted in 2022.
After weeks of hearings, those plans died in May when Northampton County Judge Abraham Kassis threw out a change to township zoning laws which provided the legal basis to expand the landfill.
The township council approved a replacement change to zoning laws in late August, this time making landfills permissible by right in areas zoned for light industry.
Last week, lawyers for a group of township residents who live near the landfill asked a Northampton County judge to bar the landfill company from certain actions to advance the expansion until the end of a suit challenging its legality
A hearing on whether to grant the injunction is scheduled for October.
“I feel awful when I go to work and [people say], ‘you live in Lower Saucon, that's where they're gonna make that landfill bigger.’”A Lower Saucon Township resident who did not identify herself to the commission
As at every point so far, several township residents spoke at Thursday’s meeting, railing against the expansion.
“This whole thing with the landfill is just an appeasement,” said Lower Saucon resident Bob Blasko. “Will the landfill expand again in the future? I'm sure they’ll try.”
“I feel awful when I go to work and [people say], ‘you live in Lower Saucon, that's where they're gonna make that landfill bigger,’” said another township resident who did not identify herself to the commission. “Do I want to keep living here?”
“I feel like I’m just going on deaf ears. I’m talking to a wall,” said Jay Palos, who lives in the township. “But I’m still here.”
After they finished speaking, Frank DeAmore, a lawyer representing St. Luke’s Health Network in litigation opposing the landfill’s growth, approached the microphone.
In response, Planning Commission Vice Chair Tom Carocci, also a member of the township council, told D’Amore that because he lived outside the township, he would not be allowed to address the commission.
When D’Amore tried to speak anyway, Carocci ordered township staff to turn off cameras recording the meeting, gathered some of his things and walked away from the dais.
The township now has until Dec. 27 to act on the landfill’s latest development proposal.
