Schuylkill County Commissioners have set an April 15 meeting with state officials to discuss the ongoing stench issues in the western reaches of the area.
Commissioners Chair Larry Padora confirmed Wednesday that the April 15 meeting will include County officials, officials with the Dept. of Environmental Protection, a representative of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office, and a representative of Sen. Dave Argall’s office.
“We’re going to formulate a plan or opinion after that,” Padora said Wednesday as the Commissioners heard for a half-hour about the ongoing stench problems being blamed on at least two different companies operating in the area.
In February, the Commissioners met with representatives of Natural Soil Products, Liberty Processing & Soils, and Stavola-Summit Materials, separately at the Courthouse to discuss persistent complaints about smells and other issues about their operations in western Schuylkill County.
The goal of that meeting was to understand how the companies deal with complaints from the public.
Now, the Commissioners want to know what they can do from the County government level in mitigating the problems these companies are blamed for bringing to the residents near their facilities.
“I have a very specific list of questions that I want to ask DEP and the Governor’s office,” Padora said at Wednesday’s Commissioners Work Session meeting. “As far as I know, a couple years ago, there were no complaints. I want to know what changed from then until now. Something changed drastically.”
The Commissioners were told by locals who attended Wednesday’s meeting that permits were changed to allow the companies to bring in more materials to be processed. And that, they believe, is causing persistent stench and other problems, such as sewage sludge being dropped on roadways and increased heavy truck traffic.
Tammy Saltzman, of Porter Twp., told Commissioners on Wednesday, “Three to four days a week we’re getting the smell. People are getting sick, eyes burning, rashes, throwing up … Little kids at the school buses, everybody’s holding their nose.
Speaking specifically of Natural Soil Products, Saltzman said, “It’s not getting any better. If they can’t figure out how to get this GORE system going right, then maybe it should all get shut down or tell them to buy us out. This is beyond anything that humans should live with,” she added. “Trucks are lining up at 3:30-4:00 in the morning. They’re not open until 7. It’s like the Wild West. They’re doing whatever they want out there.”
Saltzman is referencing a filtration system (GORE) that NSP was required to install to mitigate smells from biosolids processing at its facility. The companies operations were limited until this system went online. But residents nearby say it’s not working and the smells are persisting.
Debra Bourgeois, of Frailey Twp., told Commissioners, “We can’t enjoy life and now everyone’s afraid our taxes are going to go up (because of the ongoing property tax reassessment). I hope we can get something done – and I mean DONE – because we’ve been fighting for a long, long time. It feels like nothing’s being done.”
She added, “I wish to God we could close NSP down until something is done. I’d like to take a dump truck and dump it on their yards. But being a 70-year-old woman, I don’t want to go to jail.”
In the past, the Commissioners have told the public they’re essentially powerless with regard to helping residents of the affected communities in western Schuylkill County.
That message previously came from Commissioner Boots Hetherington. But last week, he told affected residents that he noticed a smell when he was traveling to Harrisburg on Interstate 81.
“We had to open our windows in our car going past the 209 exit. We understand what you’re saying. We’re going to try our best to get resolution on this,” Hetherington said. “We’ve got to get something to DEP to get ahead of it. I agree, it’s not fair. It’s not fair at all.”
The February meeting and the meeting planned for April 15 are attempts to see what they could actually do.
Padora says he still wants to get a County official certified to do inspections of these companies to report directly to Harrisburg rather than running it through DEP at the local level.
“We’re going to pursue this as far as we can pursue it. We’re not giving up on it,” he said Wednesday. “Harrisburg has to give us more power.”
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Tootsie
March 25, 2024 at 8:22 am
All of a sudden, Boots is now going to perk up and try to solve the sewage sludge problem in the West End? After taking all those campaign contributions from Frank Krammes (#1 sh*t spreader in the County), one has to wonder where his true loyalties lie. Spare us Boots. Let’s see what Padora and Hess can accomplish.
MICHAEL TURNER
March 25, 2024 at 10:24 am
I’m sorry to see Liberty lumped in with the other companies. It seems like one company is responsible for most, or all, of the problems here. I spend a lot of time in the state gamelands adjacent to the Liberty operations, and have never been bothered by foul odors, etc. They seem to run a responsible operation, and they are performing a useful public service.
Canary Commenter
March 25, 2024 at 2:27 pm
Complaints really haven’t focused on them and from what we’ve been told, they had the best answers to questions during the individual meetings at the Courthouse a few weeks ago.
Sue Melot
April 11, 2024 at 4:57 pm
Thank goodness something made be done about this mess!! We bought our house about a year ago and showing we’re only on Sunday’s. Now we know why the smell isn’t as bad if at all on Sundays because they’re not working. The traffic now starts a 3:00am. You can’t get a good nights get sleep…you can’t be outside all for GREED. Now they started working Saturday’s no break at all. I had a family member stay over that had to go get a hotel room after one night because she was paranoid a truck was going to come through the house. Yes it’s really that bad. I also have cracked windows to prove it from the vibrations.