LOWER SAUCON TWP. — A hearing officer on Monday gave more than 40 individuals and entities the status to join a legal battle against the proposed expansion of the Bethlehem Landfill.
But later Monday, the township Zoning Hearing Board voted not to hold a scheduled appeal of prior approval of the expansion, instead letting the matter proceed to county court.
- Many Lower Saucon Township residents who oppose Bethlehem Landfill expansion received party status at the hearing Monday
- Party status allows residents to ask questions of witnesses, present evidence, make arguments and participate in a possible appeal.
- Residents' main concerns included environmental and wildlife preservation, odors, increased traffic and decreased property values.
Nearly 200 people attended the seven-hour public hearing at Lower Saucon Fire Rescue, which determined who has standing to become a party to proceedings relative to the expansion.
To get party status, local residents, municipalities and organizations had to present evidence showing they have a direct, immediate and substantial interest relative to the expansion.
Residents receiving party status are permitted to ask questions of witnesses, present evidence, make arguments and participate in an appeal.
Many in attendance on Monday were Lower Saucon residents who live near both the current and proposed landfill. They oppose the expansion for reasons including land preservation, fear of contaminants from the landfill polluting the water table and existing waterways, repulsive odors, health impact and increased traffic by trash hauling trucks.
The parcel on which the landfill plans to expand is covered by conservation easements originally filed with the City of Bethlehem and transferred to Lower Saucon Township. It’s now a forested area with a stream running through it.
Among those granted party status by hearing officer Attorney Scott MacNair, including the City of Easton, Bethlehem Township, Hellertown, St. Luke’s Hospital-Anderson campus, Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor and D&L Trail, Delaware River Shad’s Fishermen’s Association and many Bethlehem residents.
Zoning board cancels hearing
Lower Saucon Township Council voted in December to approve the rezoning of the parcel in question to expand the landfill.
The adopted changes help clear the way for the landfill’s expansion by rezoning for light industrial use, moving decision-making power from the zoning hearing board to the township council, removing many site planning requirements and creating an exemption to the land preservation requirements.
Bethlehem Landfill is a subsidiary of Waste Connections, Inc., a solid waste services company based in The Woodlands, Tex.
“We are here this evening ready to proceed with witnesses. We have a room full of people.”Attorney Gary Asteak, who represents opponents of the proposed expansion
Later Monday, the township Zoning Hearing Board met to consider an appeal to previous zoning changes facilitating the landfill expansion.
Several dozen members of the community filled Nick’s BBQ at Lower Saucon Township Fire Rescue for Monday night’s hearing. Once the body finished its annual reorganization, the authority’s solicitor, George Heitczman, said he had a letter to read.
“The meeting contains something that has never been before the board at any time previously: a validity challenge,” Heitczman said. “It is clear that whatever this board would decide, an appeal to the Common Pleas Court would be taken. I don't think anyone disagrees with that.”
Heitczman recommended the board strike the appeal from Monday’s agenda, effectively rejecting it without a hearing, so that “an appeal can immediately be taken to the [Northampton County] Court of Common Pleas.”
Opponents of expanding the landfill already filed a separate appeal in Northampton County, challenging the zoning changes on procedural grounds.
'Like the 'Wizard of Oz' '
The matter has since been designated a “major case” and assigned to Judge Abe Kassis, consolidating the matter under one judge. As a result, Heitczman said, an appeal of the zoning board’s decision would ultimately be rolled into the ongoing procedural challenge.
He argued that the end result would be the same regardless of whether the board approved or rejected the appeal before them, so it would be more efficient to move the process along as quickly as possible.
“It's like ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ when Dorothy and the group get to the door [of the Emerald City] and they tell them, ‘Go home.’ That's what it feels like.”Ginger Petrie, opponent of the landfill expansion
Gary Asteak, a lawyer representing the appellants, objected.
“We are here this evening ready to proceed with witnesses,” he said. “We have a room full of people.”
But the authority voted unanimously to do as the solicitor suggested and strike the matter from the meeting’s agenda.
“This gives us the opportunity to go before the Court of Common Pleas,” said Victoria Opthof-Cordaro, an activist opposing landfill expansion. Her parents are appellants in the case; she is running for a seat on the Lower Saucon Township Council.
“It will be a much more judicious way of handling the proceeding, and we don't have to waste people's time.”
Ginger Petrie, an appellant, agreed that speeding up the process benefits their appeal, but said she wanted the people who showed up to get a chance to speak.
“People are very disappointed that they didn't get to discuss what we were here to do, and they've set aside their private time,” Petrie said. “And you know, there might be a snowstorm.
“It's like ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ when Dorothy and the group get to the door [of the Emerald City] and they tell them, ‘Go home.’ That's what it feels like.”
No objection to neighbors' status
Residents requesting party status lined up the length of the hearing room at the earlier meeting Monday.
Those opposing the landfill expansion were represented by Asteak, a prominent Easton attorney. Attorney Maryanne Garber represented the Bethlehem Landfill.
Each of those having received or requested party status on Monday are opposed to the landfill expansion, planned over 275 acres at Applebutter Road and Riverside Drive.
After objecting to many party status applicants in the morning session, Garber later said she would not object to anyone who lives within a half-mile of a specific area of the landfill being approved.
Garber added that she would not oppose anyone residing in Steel City, a village of about 250 homes adjacent to the proposed landfill site, receiving party status.
Garber pressed residents who complained about odors from the landfill as to the number of times they reported the issue to the township. Some residents said they could not recall how often they did; others said they stopped reporting due to a lack of response from the township.
The party status hearing will resume at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Lower Saucon Fire Rescue.
"Right now, I'm concerned about my life and health. My life — why doesn't that count?"Jackie Palumbo, Hellertown resident
Odor, falling trash, other issues
Jackie Palumbo was denied party status despite an impassioned plea. She lives on King's Mill Road in Hellertown, a mile and a half from the current landfill.
She constantly smells odors from the landfill and is also concerned about how the landfills may affect her well water.
"Right now, I'm concerned about my life and health," Palumbo said. "My life — why doesn't that count?"
Hellertown solicitor Michael Corriere testified that the borough opposed the landfill expansion primarily because it is an adjoining municipality that would be impacted by increased traffic of trash trucks on the infrastructure.
Corriere also argued that trash falling off the trucks would have a detrimental impact on borough residents.
Garber asked Corriere what current impacts have been experienced from a compost facility at 2011 Springhill Road with the existing landfill. Corriere said it’s the odor.
Garber argued the borough reasonably could not distinguish between odors from the compost facility and those that may emanate from the proposed expanded landfill.
Affect the woods and animals
Attorney Joe Bubba, of Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba in Allentown, represents St. Luke’s Hospital-Anderson Campus, which is nearby and north of the proposed landfill expansion across the Lehigh River.
Bubba cited the hospital campus as being an aggrieved party beyond that of the general public. He noted the hospital operates a helipad near the landfill expansion and said the expansion would reduce the distance from the edge of the landfill to the campus to 740 feet from 1,300 feet.
“We will have possible concerns about odor, various environmental issues, including possible water table contamination and leachates,” Bubba said. “And possible collision between birds and helicopters, concerns about the slope to the Lehigh River, views of bucolic nature and concerns about wind direction and [the] possibility of litter.”
Jeremy Clark, an assistant solicitor for Easton, argued that the landfill expansion would negatively affect Hugh Moore Park and other properties it owns and operates along the Lehigh River.
“The city’s concerns center around leachate and odor that would impact the park,” Clark said.
Clark told MacNair the purpose of the park is for residents to enjoy nature and enjoy things — the woods and animals — that they can’t in the city. To deteriorate that would impact the city and its ability to grow and provide outdoor recreational use, he said.
“One part of Hugh Moore Park is close to a landfill," Clark told Garber. "I don’t think we want another part of another landfill close to Hugh Moore Park.”
Concern for D&L Trail
Claire Sadler, executive director of D&L Trail, also opposes the landfill expansion. The trail follows the path of the Lehigh Canal from Easton to Bethlehem and Allentown, the most populated section of the trail.
“We’re a nonprofit supported by local, state and federal funding,” Sadler said. “We have staff members and board members who live within a half mile of the proposed landfill.”
Garber focused heavily on the precise distance that residents opposing the expansion resided in relation to the proposed parcel.
Asteak countered, “The cases deal with what the impacts are. You’ve heard compelling arguments here of what the impacts would have environmentally and to residents.”
Bethlehem Township solicitor Anthony Giovannini voiced concerns that the township has if the landfill expansion is approved. The township owns parcels of land that the D&L Trail runs through moving west along the Lehigh River, Giovannini said.
Echoing the concerns that Clark expressed for Easton, Giovannini said he fears the negative environmental impact, mainly odor, water table issues, leachate, wind direction and litter. He also noted concerns about the destruction of the scenic landscape and the impact on wildlife that would result from the removal of trees for the landfill expansion.
‘We saw an end to this'
Bethlehem resident Duke Smith is a member of the Delaware River Shad Fishermen's Association, a nonprofit conservation organization in Allentown. He expressed concerns over how the possibility of leachate would impact the Bull Run Creek, a tributary that runs into the Lehigh River.
Smith said shads in the Delaware River and along the entire East Coast have declined 98 percent from historic levels.
“We’re concerned about the baby shads we raise in tanks there,” Smith said. “We’re concerned about the shads' recover if there’s an expansion.”
“As a neighboring property owner, we were under the assumption you had another four years of landfill usage, not 40. We saw an end to this.”Matthew McClarin, Steel City village resident
Matthew McClarin of Riverside Drive resides a half-mile from the proposed landfill expansion site. In addition to objectionable odors emanating from the existing landfill, he said he has been awakened early in the morning by the sound of heavy equipment at the landfill.
“As a neighboring property owner, we were under the assumption you had another four years of landfill usage, not 40,” McClarin told Garber. “We saw an end to this.”
