Bristol Incinerator Hearing Rescheduled

The Bristol Township Zoning Board meeting scheduled for February 10 has been rescheduled till February 24, officials told LevittownNow.com this weekend.

Zoning Board Chair Chuck Clayton said the meeting was being rescheduled for two reasons .The meeting, regularly scheduled for the second Monday of the month, would fall on the President’s day holiday and board solicitor Kenneth D. Federman, will be out of the  country on the 1oth, Clayton said.

Clayton said he didn’t know when the meeting was tabled on January 14 the solicitor’s plans otherwise the meeting would have been scheduled accordingly.

According to Zoning board officials, the meeting must take place within 45 days of the January’s hearing

Clayton did say applicant Route 13 Bridge Partners LP of King of Prussia approved the date change and now officials have more time to wrestle with the issue before making decision.

Clayton, at the end of the last meeting, said he wanted to gather more information to  learn more about the issue that has crested into a controversial issue in the days leading up to the January zoning board meeting.

Clayton said, the group represented by former New Jersey Governor Jim Florio (of  Florio, Perucci, Steinhardt and Fader, with an office in Cherry Hill, New Jersey)  had asked the township for a bigger meeting space so more people could attend the hearing, but said that could not happen.

The January meeting  was standing room only, as the meeting room, hallways, and front entrance to the  municipal building were filled with interested members of the public.

Clayton said the groups request to have the meeting moved to larger facilities was denied because it wasn’t possible in terms of time and cost, adding “we would need to set up camera’s and audio for broadcasting purposes and we don’t have the finances to do that.”

He did add,  a live broadcast of the February 24 meeting  could  be seen live on the township’s website or for those that can not attend the hearing it could  watched  on Comcast Cablevision Channel 22 and Verizon FiOS Channel 45.

Late Saturday night Clayton via e-mail said he’s going to ask Bristol Township Fire Marshal Kevin Dippolito if more seats can be added for the public can be added to the meeting space.

“It’s not something we’ve ever done.” Clayton said, about moving the meeting to a larger space, “so we’re going to work with what we have,” he said.

On Sunday morning  Dippolito said more seats could be added for the February 24 meeting and would approve the request made by zoning officials.

Clayton, with the boards support tabled the motion to vote on the ordinance request by Route 13 Bridge Partners LP  about 4.5 hours into the meeting because he and his fellow board members thought  more time was needed to collect more information on the subject.

Calyton said he wants to “hear more from  township residents” about the growing controversy before the meeting.

The original hearing scheduled to take place in December was rescheduled at the request of the applicant and moved to January.

At the time, sources close to the board said they expected the variance request to pass without issue but then social media and published reports out of New Jersey caught the attention of township residents and those from other communities near by culminating in the “huge” turnout at last month’s meeting.

At the  standing room only meeting an outcry from a majority of those in attendance to shelve the plan was heard.

‘Applicant officials say their plan consists of two incinerators being built which would burn 60 tons of garbage daily including alcohol, cleaners, paints, medicines, aerosols, pesticides and adhesives.

At the heart of the issue is whether to approve the variance request for the two incinerators which officials from the applicant say is proper since the township has no on the books regulations against this kind of commercial industry

“Our responsibility is simple,” said Clayton,” if we pass it ultimately its up to council whether to accept the business here or not,” he said.

Officials from Burlington New Jersey, Bensalem, Bristol Township Council, State Rep Davis’s office, among a plethora of other local officials  attended the sometimes tense meeting in January.

Locally, social medias influence, among some other factors, are now playing a role in the run up to the next hearing.

In the days after the January hearing social media page called “Ban the Burn in Bristol” was ignited and now a petition  started by concerned residents of Bristol Borough is seeking the support of Bristol Borough Council Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8),  State Rep. John Galloway, (D-140)  and State Sen. Robert Tomlinson, (PA -6)  to ” oppose the hazardous waste incinerator.”

Former Bristol Councilman Don Mobley hired, at his own expense,  Founder and Director of the Energy Justice Network Mike Ewall who presented an on the fly” power point illustration during the last meeting has vociferously opposed the plan being reviewed by the board.

As one zoning official put it late last week about the controversy, you can’t vote for clean air or truck traffic. That’s not why you’re on the zoning board. That’s for the Bristol Township council to handle, we can only pass or reject the zoning request.