Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The public comment portion of the Bucks County Commissioners meeting on Wednesday was dominated by a proposed hazardous waste treatment facility in Falls Township.
Members of groups that have raised concerns about construction of the proposed Elcon wastewater treatment facility at 100 Dean Sievers Place in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex spoke before the commissioners.
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Fred Stine of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network asked the three commissioners to be “very aggressive” and utilize their experts to ask the hard questions of Elcon.
Betty Tatham, vice president of issues and action for the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, said she is “extremely alarmed about having this facility in Morrisville, Falls Township, close to schools and daycare centers.”
Elcon, which has battled residents of both Pennsylvania and New Jersey over the last year through public hearings and public comments, is currently seeking approval once again of their Phase I application to construct a 22 acre facility. The facility, which Dr. Rengarajan Ramesh, a consultant for Elcon, has called “clean, green, and sustainable,” would treat liquid waste from various facilities, heat it up and place it in pools to evaporate.
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Stine mentioned a Philadelphia Water Department letter submitted to the state that raised concerns of the project. The letter said if there was a leak, it could put “millions at risk.”
According to the PWD, they conducted computer simulation using the Early Warning System (EWS) Tidal Spill Model, which was funded through a Department of Homeland Security grant, to test Elcon’s plans. According to their findings, when they applied the proposed location of the Elcon facility to the stimulation of a possible contaminate, results indicated a chemical plume would envelop the Baxter water treatment plant, which provides 60% of potable water to Bucks County, in as little as 90 hours.
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If a leak happened, which Elcon officials said is almost impossible, it could threatened the water supply for Lower Bucks County and Philadelphia, Stine said.
“It’s just the wrong spot for this type of facility,” he stated.
Robert G. Loughery, chairman of the commissioners, said the county would likely not have to vote on any portion of the project.
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Currently, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is reviewing Elcon’s Phase I application, which reviews preliminary plans and the site being considered for the facility that would see hazardous waste coming in from rail cars and trucks. If the DEP approves Phase I, Phase II would take a deeper look at technical aspects of the plan, including any harmful byproducts of the facility.
“We can’t let this happen. You have the power, please use it,” Tatham told the commissioners.
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Related:
- Bristol Twp. Officials Don’t Want Hazardous Waste Trucks Trucks On Township Roads
- Philadelphia Water Department Study Says Proposed Facility Could Put “Millions At Risk”
- Dozens Come Out To Public Hearing For Proposed Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility
- Company Promises Residents Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility Will Be “Clean, Green & Sustainable”
- Public Does Not Seem Impressed With Proposed Liquid Hazardous Waste Treatment Plant
- Plans For Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility In Falls Get Denied By DEP
