Falls Twp. Officials Say Closure Of Tullytown Landfill Doesn’t Worry Them

Falls Township officials say they are confident that the closing of the Tullytown Landfill, which partly sits in their town, will not have a major impact on revenues.

The Tullytown Landfill is slated to closed by May 22, 2017, according to a permit approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Falls Township currently receives $4.95 per a one ton load from the Tullytown Landfill. The GROWS North Landfill provides the township with $5.95 per ton, Township Manager Peter Gray said.

Those two host fees currently allow Falls Township to bring in about $1 million per month.

Recently, Waste Management applied for a permit to open their planned Fairless Landfill, which is situated on a portion of the former US Steel Fairless Works property. If approved, which is likely, the township could see $6.25 per ton in the first three to five years of use and $6.50 per ton thereafter, Gray said.

The township manager said Falls residents need not worry about the closure of the Tullytown Landfill, as Waste Management still has space to expand their waste disposal operations.

“There’s plenty of capacity,” he said.

Falls Board of Supervisors Chairman Bob Harvie said he was not shocked when the DEP only approved a two year permit for the Tullytown Landfill.

“That’s about what it would take Waste Management to fill the space anyway,” Harvie said. “Over many years everyone knew this day was coming.”

Harvie and Gray both said they expect host fees to come to the township for many years.

The proposed new township building and police station could be paid for through the host fees, officials have said.

The soon-to-close Tullytown Landfill has operated since 1988.

“After a complete review of the renewal application and consideration of public input, we concluded that a balance had to be reached to allow disposal operations to continue, but for a limited amount of time so that the landfill could close in a structurally sound and environmentally safe manner,” DEP Southeast Regional Director Cosmo Servidio said last week.

The impact of the closure if expected to hit Tullytown much harder than Falls.