One of the operating landfills in Schuylkill County is looking to expand its footprint.
Commonwealth Environmental Sytems (CES) Landfill that operates in three municipalities has submitted a Major Permit Modification Application to the state Dept. of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Solid Waste Management.
CES currently operates in Foster, Frailey, and Reilly townships in Schuylkill County.
The reason CES is submitting this Major Permit Modification Application is to “increase the overall Municipal Solid Waste volume and life expectancy” of the landfill.
“The Major Permit Application will be centralized on the property included in the PA DEP Permit No. 101615 … The Southwest Expansion is predicated upon providing continuous service to the present customer base of CES Landfill,” a Legal Notice from the company reads.
It continues, “The Southwest Expansion does not contain a request to increase the present average daily, nor maximum daily tonnage of municipal solid waste.”
The public can view the application at any of the townships that host CES or at Schuylkill County Planning Commission at the Courthouse. Fair warning: The application is contained within 12 three-ring binders and also includes a roll of large maps.
Based on our knowledge of the plans, CES wants to increase the amount of land it uses for its landfill. This is not an application to increase the daily tonnage accepted at the landfill.
Regardless of the plans, this news will likely not be welcomed by Schuylkill County residents in the affected communities and their neighbors.
In recent months, environmental concerns from residents of western and central Schuylkill County have become a hot-button topic at public meetings. Smells emanating from facilities like landfills and slude and biosolids processors, along with heavy truck traffic to these businesses have residents complaining about a diminished quality of life and local officials saying they’re nearly powerless to prevent it.
DEP is accepting public comments on CES’s Major Permit Modification Application for about the next two months. Comments can be submitted to DEP’s Wilkes-Barre office at 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711. The Wilkes-Barre office phone number is 570-826-2511.
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