Public Does Not Seem Impressed With Proposed Liquid Hazardous Waste Treatment Plant

Despite making changes to plans for a proposed liquid hazardous waste treatment plant, residents from Falls and Morrisville did not seem to impressed with the alterations on Tuesday evening.

Officials from Israel-based Elcon Recycling Services came before local residents at a meeting set up by the Morrisville Town Watch that explained their proposal that will be presented to the public at a Pennsylvania DEP meeting Wednesday evening.

Dr. Rengarajan Ramesh, a Princeton, New Jersey resident consulting with Elcon, explained the changes to the plan and discussed the plan to construct the liquid hazardous waste treatment plant at 100 Dean Sievers Place in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex near Morrisville and just a short journey from the Delaware River.

The new plans for the 22-acre site differ from ones that were turned down by DEP in February. Ramesh explained that how instead of distilled water being pumped into the Delaware River, as was in the previous plans, the water will be put in pools and evaporated into the air. Salts left over from the water distillation and “state-of-the-art” cleaning process will be removed from the site, he said.

Elcon’s process to clean the liquid hazardous waste, which Ramesh compared to dirty sink water, has been perfected at three operating plans in Israel. Dr. Zvi Elgat, CEO of Elcon, said two more plants will soon be opened in Europe.

“This process is good,” he said of the plant. “This is a classic ‘not in my back yard’ situation.”

Ramesh worked for more than two hours to explain Elcon’s goals and to answer questions from the roughly two dozen people who joined the meeting.

The new 110,000-square-foot plant, which will be constructed in an area that already has heavy industry, will have the latest security features, up-to-date fire suppression technology, many safeguards and highly-trained employees, Ramesh said. He added that everything will be “close looped” and not discharge water or odor from Elcon’s facility.

Elcon officials touted how many jobs the proposed plant would bring to the area. Ramesh said the plant would initially create 55 jobs with 65 more added later. He told the crowd the jobs would be “good paying” and include a variety of positions ranging from operators to scientists.

In a 24-hour period, the proposed plant could take in 17 truck loads of waste water, with that number being reduced when rail cars come in. Each truck would come with a manifest of waste in the water and Elcon would do an independent test to confirm the list, Ramesh said.

Elcon’s plans for a plant that dumped the cleaned water into the Delaware River and delivered it to customers in the industrial complex was turned down by the DEP due to issues over documents relating to the flood plain. Ramesh said the company has confirmed their plant is out of the 100-year flood plain and would be protected from the Delaware River. He added the plan to let water leave the site was scrapped after an uproar from the public earlier this year.

Newtown resident Steve Cikay, despite saying Elcon’s process seemed safe, still raised concerns about the facility being so close to a heavily populated area. He wasn’t alone in his concern.

“Of the gin joints in the world … why did you have to walk into Falls Township?” he asked.

Betty Tatham of Northampton raised concerns about any problems that could damage the fragile Delaware River, which millions rely on for drinking water.

“The kids can finally go canoeing in the river,” Tatham said. “We really need to protect it the best you can.”

Ramesh worked the room to reassure residents that the proposed plant would be safe. He also spoke of educational opportunities Elcon could provide to local students.

The DEP will be hosting a public meeting inside the Sheraton Bucks County on Oxford Valley Road in Falls Township Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The meeting will explain the plan and let residents ask questions. A Phase I testimony meeting will be held in the coming weeks after the public has time to review Elcon’s plans.