UPDATED: 12:25 a.m., Wednesday:
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The crowd got what they wanted Tuesday evening – a vote denying Elcon’s proposed hazardous waste treatment facility.
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More than four years since the Elcon proposal was first publicly floated, the five-member Falls Township Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to deny the Israel-based firm’s land development application to build their “state-of-the-art” hazardous waste treatment facility on a vacant 33-acre lot at 100 Dean Sievers Place in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex.
The decision was cheered by the majority of the crowd. Some hugged, some high-fived friends, and nearly everybody gave the Supervisors a standing ovation.
Elcon representatives quickly left the high school’s Keller Hall and had a quick discussion. At the sight of a reporter from this news organization, the group quickly bolted to a back door and received a police escort to their vehicles.
“We’re not going to comment,” Fox Rothschild attorney Kim Freimuth, who represented Elcon, eventually said.
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While the fight may seem over for some opposed to the plans, it likely isn’t at this point. Elcon is still awaiting word from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on whether they will approve the company’s voluminous technical application. It is also possible that Elcon could appeal the Supervisor’s Tuesday evening decision or submit a new proposal.
The Supervisors, who did not publicly provide their opinion on the plan before Tuesday, gave multiple reasons for denying the proposal, including lapses in Elcon’s paperwork.
Freimuth had told the Supervisors during Tuesday’s special meeting that Elcon was willing to continue the vote to another time, adding there was no rush to push forward Elcon’s proposal, which still had changes that could be made.
PHOTOS: Falls Twp. Supervisors Hold Special Meeting On Elcon Proposal
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“Typically, plans of this nature for a site like this would not be put forward that quickly,” Freimuth stated.
The township received the initial land development application in late January and has traded notes with the company.
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Elcon representatives had received their most recent round of concerns with the plans from township officials on Monday, Freimuth said.
Recently, the advisory Falls Township Planning Commission turned down Elcon’s proposal.
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Freimuth on Tuesday laid out Elcon’s land development proposal for the site at the U.S. Steel-owned property, for which the company has a $2.9 million agreement of sale in place.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The site is currently clean and U.S. Steel has a document with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take responsibility for the property.
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Elcon has proposed constructing their facility to process 150,000 to 210,000 tons of pharmaceutical manufacturing, petroleum refining, chemical, and semiconductor manufacturing wastewater that would be transported to the facility every year, according to filings with the DEP.
The facility would treat hazardous wastewater 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 salt drying processes. The leftover 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.
The process once trucks containing waste arrive at the proposal facility would happen as follows: tanker truck or truck hauling containers arrives, Elcon checks shipping documents to confirm waste stream, truck is weighed and sample of hazardous waste taken, truck awaits onsite for lab testing, and truck moves to unload into tanks. From there, the wastewater cleaning process would start.
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Rough 81 percent to 89 percent of the waste would be water, 4 percent to 5 percent would be suspended solids, 3 percent to 5 percent would be organic materials, and 4 percent to 8 percent would be salts.
The site would receive as many as 20 loads of liquid waste per day that would come from a trucking contractor hauling the loads on specific routes.
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Elcon showed a slide Tuesday evening that said the company would not accept radioactive, medical, oil and gas fracking, polychlorinated byphenyl or cyanide, reactive, or solid waste.
In the past, Elcon has said the site could employ as many as 55 workers and create more than 100 temporary construction jobs.
Freimuth, the attorney representing the company, told the Supervisors that Elcon would go past its local, state, and federal requirements when constructing the proposed facility and while operating.
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The company has pledged not to let its trucking contractor use Pennsylvania Avenue in Morrisville and also to not accept wastewater via rail or barge.
Planners for Elcon have conducted numerous spill monitoring simulations, stepped up planned flood protection of that site that sits about a mile from the Delaware River, agreed to place groundwater monitoring wells, and offer to fund a full-time independent inspector who would work for the township and be assigned to Elcon’s facility.
There were concerns from township officials about emergency operations access and safety at the proposed facility.
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Fire Marshal Rich Dippilito said not all concerns were “adequately addressed” before Tuesday’s meeting.
After a question, the fire marshal explained Falls Township, which has numerous industrial sites that deal with chemicals, works with the Bucks County and Trenton hazmat response units. He noted that Bucks County’s mainly-volunteer team could take as long as an hour to deploy, while Trenton’s round-the-clock unit could be in the township within minutes of an emergency.
Elcon officials said it was “highly unlikely” that there would be a spill from a truck or the facility. If there was, they said they had systems and plans in place.
Falls Township officials said there was concern over stormwater runoff that was designed to flow into the wetlands that feed to Biles Creek and the Delaware River. While there would be a backflow preventer installed at the stormwater basin, Supervisors Vice Chairman Jeff Dence raised concerns over a potential waste leak that could get into the waterways.
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Elcon officials said their trucking contractor would use GPS monitoring on vehicles to make sure they stick to pre-planned routes. Deviations from the route could lead to the driver being disciplined or fired.
Falls Township’s assistant engineer said the site would require a large amount of fill dirt that would have to be brought to the site. The total could number as high as 70,000-cubic-yards of dirt. The effort would take thousands of truckloads to accomplish.
Public comment lasted for a little less than two-thirds of the three-hour-long meeting.
While there were a number of men carrying signs that read “jobs for Bucks County residents,” not a single person spoke in favor of the Elcon proposal during the public comment section of the meeting.
Shivani Patel, a Pennsbury High School senior from Falls Township, said she took time out of her typical high school personal life to “stand up against bulls**t.”
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Supervisors Chairman Bob Harvie shut down the rest of Patel’s statement and called for her to be more civil, adding he knows how far political discourse has sunken, but he will not tolerate cursing.
Falls Township resident Kathleen Bird presented the Supervisors with three large binders filled with roughly 5,000 signatures gathered in opposition to Elcon’s plan.
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“I am not an environmentalist, but I am a person with common sense. Common sense says not to build a facility near the Delaware River,” Northampton resident Judy Lang told the Supervisors.
One Falls Township woman became tearful speaking about the implications to water and air quality the facility could have.
“In the end this is about dollars … this is about money for the institution, Elcon,” Pennsbury High School student Dylan Tchang said, urging the Supervisors to stand up for the residents.
Speaking of a Philadelphia Water Department letter that warned about the risk to drinking water, Bristol Township resident Al Angelini called for the Supervisors to reject Elcon.
“Even if there is litigation, you’re right. You can fight it. No means no,” he said.
Original Story:
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The Falls Township Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday night to deny the land development plans for Elcon’s hazardous waste treatment facility.
The unanimous vote against the land development application was met with applause and a stand ovation during the three-hour-long meeting at Keller Hall at Pennsbury High School’s West Campus.
Company officials could fight the decision.
Elcon officials made comments during the meeting that implied they felt the process was rushed, adding they were willing to extend the land development process.
Elcon has worked for years to build a hazardous waste treatment facility at 100 Dean Sievers Place in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex. While the company has made the case the facility would be safe, residents and activists from Bucks County and New Jersey raised serious concerns about the plan.
Elcon is still going through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection review process and has not yet received approval from that agency.
More details to be published later tonight.
Related:
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- Falls Twp. Planners Turn Down Elcon’s Plan
- Falls Twp. Supervisors Schedule Special Meeting On Elcon Plans
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- At NJ Meeting, Activists Raise Alarm Over Elcon Facility
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- PA DEP Returns Elcon Phase II Application
- Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility Plans To Again Undergo State Review Process
- Elcon Phase II Application Returned By State Officials
- ‘Fridays With Fitzpatrick’ Rally Takes Environmental Focus
- Phase II Application Submitted For Proposed Elcon Facility
- Elcon Moving Forward With Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility Development Plans
- Bristol, Middletown Pass Resolutions Opposing Elcon
- County Commissioners Say They Trust DEP With Elcon Process
- Elcon To Submit Documentation To State Within 70 Days
- Elcon Presents To Lower Makefield & Tullytown Stresses Opposition to Falls
- Elcon Attempts To Clean Up Narrative Regarding Proposed Facility Near Delaware River
- Public Meeting On Proposed Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility Set For Tuesday
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- Opponents Of Proposed Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility Work On Battle Plan
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- 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”
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- Company Promises Residents Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility Will Be “Clean, Green & Sustainable”
- Public Does Not Seem Impressed With Proposed Liquid Hazardous Waste Treatment Plant
- Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility Proposal Could Come Back To Falls Twp.
- Plans For Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility In Falls Get Denied By DEP
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