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Falls Twp. Planners Turn Down Elcon’s Plan

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By

Tom Sofield
Credit: PA DEP

The Falls Township Planning Commission voted down Elcon’s preliminary land development proposal 4-0 at their meeting on Tuesday night.

The planners denied the application and will pass their advisory opinion to the Falls Township Board of Supervisors, which will hold a special meeting to vote on the plan on Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m. at Keller Hall at Pennsbury High School’s West Campus.

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Israel-based Elcon’s plans show them constructing the proposed hazardous waste water recycling facility on a 22-acre portion of a 33-acre property in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex.

Elcon expects to employ about 55 people at the automated facility that can handle about 410 metric tons of waste a day. The facility has been expected to process 150,000 to 210,000 tons of pharmaceutical manufacturing, petroleum refining, chemical, and semiconductor manufacturing waste that would be transported to the facility every year, according to filing with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

About a dozen members of the public spoke in opposition to the plan, raising concerns about truck traffic to the site, the distance from the Delaware River, air emissions and pollution from the facility, and the impact it could have on neighboring New Jersey.

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An attorney representing Elcon stressed to the public and planners that the matter before them was land development and that was what they were there to talk about.

The meeting room filled with opponents of the plan clapped, cheered, and gave a standing ovation when planners denied the Elcon proposal.

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Elcon representatives told the crowd that they were willing to make adjustments to meet some concerns from the township.

Credit: Elcon

Elcon has proposed treating hazardous wastewater using through evaporation after being placed into an indoor closed-loop system. The process would use chemicals, sludge filtration, thermal treatment, steam stripping, distillation, salt concentration, salt crystallization, and a salt drying processes. The left over distilled water would be reused to cool equipment at the facility. Elcon calls their process “thermal oxidation.” Solid waste leftover would be transported by truck to an off-site permitted hazardous waste landfill outside of the area.

In previous filings, Elcon has said they have an agreement to purchase the 33-acre lot at 100 Dean Sievers Place for $2.9 million. The land is owned by U.S. Steel and was previously part of the massive Fairless Plant.

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Elcon has eyed Falls Township as the location of their facility since 2014. After public outcry, they altered their plan in 2015 to remove a pipeline that would supply water purified by their sanitation process to nearby businesses.

Some against the Elcon proposal have voiced their upsetment in recent weeks that the Falls Township Board of Supervisors have not voiced their opinion on the plan.

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“Until Elcon’s recent formal land development plan submission, the Falls governing body had no jurisdiction to weigh in on the project. Even with so many against the project, the Supervisors are required by law to fairly review and consider the plan,” a recent statement from the township said.

In recent years, Bristol Borough, Middletown, Morrisville, Newtown Township, Tullytown, Upper Makefield and Yardley have passed resolutions opposing the proposed Elcon facility.

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Tom Sofield

Tom Sofield

Tom Sofield has covered news in Bucks County for 16 years for both newspaper and online publications. Tom’s reporting has appeared locally, nationally, and internationally across several mediums. He is proud to report on news in the county where he lives and to have created a reliable publication that the community deserves.