DEP Issues Environmental Assessment Of Proposed Keystone Landfill Expansion Showing Benefits Of Project Outweigh Harms

On July 8, the Department of Environmental Protection issued its environmental assessment review letter to Keystone Sanitary Landfill (Keystone) regarding its permit application for expansion at its facility in the boroughs of Dunmore and Throop, Lackawanna County which found benefits of the project outweigh potential harms.

Keystone’s permit application for expansion will move on to the technical review phase.

DEP issued the review as part of Keystone’s March 2014 application for expansion within the landfill’s currently permitted area. However, this is not a final decision by DEP on Keystone’s expansion. 

“This was a thorough environmental review where DEP received substantial public comment,” said Mike Bedrin, Director of DEP’s Northeast Regional Office in Wilkes-Barre. “It is important to note that now DEP will move to the next phase of permit review.”

The benefits recognized by DEP in the environmental assessment include: financial benefit to municipalities from host agreements, value of goods and services purchased locally, tax revenues, continued employment of local workforce, recycling and clean-up programs (including PennDOT’s Adopt a Highway Program), and environmental education.

The review also noted mitigation the landfill has proposed to limit some potential harms including: an enhanced monitoring program to address potential odors from the landfill, a Property Value Protection Plan to eliminate potential harm to property values, and an expansion modification that would lower the height and reduce the visibility of the proposed expansion. Keystone has also recently completed several projects that minimize the potential impact that leachate from the landfill may have on groundwater.

DEP issued two prior review letters regarding the expansion in October of 2015 and in May of 2017. In addition to the review letters, DEP accepted public comment, which included holding public meetings in Dunmore and Throop boroughs as well as a meeting with municipal officials. A public hearing on the application was held on July 18, 2016.

In April of 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Health along with the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reviewed data collected by DEP and issued a Health Consultation Report in response to the community’s concerns about harmful environmental exposures from the landfill. 

Those wishing to comment on the technical aspects of the application can do so by mailing written comments to Roger Bellas, Waste Management Program Manager, DEP Northeast Regional Office, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, 18701 or by emailing him at: rbellas@pa.gov.  

A copy of the environmental assessment letter is available for review at DEP’s Northeast Regional Office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Appointments for reviewing the application materials may be made by calling 570-826-2511.

More information on the Keystone Landfill Expansion permit is available on the DEP Northeast Regional Office Community Resources webpage.

Media questions should be directed to Colleen Connolly, DEP Northeast Regional Office, 570-826-2035 or send email to: coconnolly@pa.gov.