A Catholic religious order based in Missouri has forced a pause on the proposed sale of 177 acres along Burma Rd. from a Schuylkill County coal company to a neighboring landfill.
On Wednesday, Schuylkill County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Hobbs denied a petition from Reading Anthracite and a group of co-landowners seeking court approval to sell the property to BRADS Landfill. Hobbs gave the sellers 60 days to refile the case under a different legal process.
The land, located along Burma Road next to the landfill, is co-owned by Reading Anthracite and a group collectively known as the Seitzinger heirs, descendants of a family that has held a stake in the property for generations.
Because a small number of the heirs could not be located after a public notice in April, Reading Anthracite and the reachable heirs asked Hobbs to approve the sale on their behalf through an Action of Quiet Title. A quiet title action asks a judge to formally settle who owns a piece of property, clearing up gaps in ownership.
The process would have given Hobbs a path to sign off on the sale on the missing heirs’ behalf, as long as no other owner stepped forward to object. However, one party did.
The Sisters of Good Shepherd object
An objection was filed by the Sisters of Good Shepherd, a Catholic order based in St. Louis that owns an approximate 1% stake in the property. The order inherited its share from a deceased Seitzinger heir.
Sister Gayle Lwanga Crumbley, RSG, attended Wednesday’s hearing on the order’s behalf and was prepared to testify, but did not get the chance. Hobbs ruled that because an owner had come forward to contest the sale, he no longer had the authority to proceed under quiet title.
“I no longer have authority under Quiet Title statute to sell the property,” Hobbs told the roughly 50 people inside Courtroom 1, many of whom attended to oppose the sale over concerns it will allow BRADS Landfill to expand.
Hobbs noted that quiet title is built for situations where ownership is unknown or incomplete, not for resolving a dispute between known owners who disagree. Once the Sisters of Good Shepherd appeared as an “adversarial party,” Hobbs ruled, quiet title was no longer the correct legal mechanism.
What comes next
Hobbs gave Reading Anthracite and the Seitzinger heirs 60 days to refile the case as a Partition Action, the legal process co-owners use when they cannot agree on what to do with jointly owned property. Partition allows a court to divide the property or order it sold and the proceeds split. Hobbs indicated the 60-day window could be extended if necessary.
However, Ed Brennan, the attorney representing the Sisters, argued that because his client’s stake was inherited through a will, the case should be routed through Orphans’ Court, a specialized branch that handles estates. Brennan said outside the courtroom that he intends to appeal if the case moves forward in standard civil partition.
Wednesday’s ruling did not determine whether the sale to BRADS should happen, only which legal process must be used to get there.
After the hearing, Brennan addressed the crowd gathered outside.
“But for them,” Brennan said, referring to the Sisters, “that sale could have gone through.”
Brennan said the order will not back down from its opposition to the sale. He also offered his own assessment that BRADS needs every acre included in the sale to expand its operation, though he acknowledged this is his belief and not a documented fact.
Asked why the Sisters are fighting to stop the sale, Brennan said, “Their organization doesn’t care about the money.”
In an interview following the hearing, Sister Gayle confirmed the order’s motivations are not financial.
“It’s important because we not only care about people and the individual worth of people,” she said. “We also care about the Earth and that any disturbance of the ecosystems. The entire universe is connected. It’s all connected. So that’s why we care because we care about people and we care about the Earth.”
She pointed to Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical formally titled “On Care for Our Common Home,” as the foundation for their position.
“Care of the Earth is one of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church,” she said. “That’s why we care.”
The expansion debate
While many residents opposing the sale believe it signals a coming physical expansion of the landfill, BRADS currently has no permit application filed to expand its footprint along Burma Road.
The landfill does have applications before state regulators to double the volume of its daily intake and to permanently truck leachate from the site, but no documents indicate an expansion in land.
Asked about the expansion claims, Brennan said, “I don’t think it’s a stretch to believe they’re going to expand.”
Gretchen Sterns, an attorney representing Reading Anthracite, pushed back against the assumption that the land will automatically be used for landfill operations.
“There’s nothing that says this property is going to be used for a landfill,” Sterns said, adding that Reading Anthracite simply has an opportunity to sell property it owns.
Sterns said that residents have a right to be critical of the landfill, but argued their fight should be directed at the permitting process and the Department of Environmental Protection, not the land sale itself.
Despite Wednesday’s procedural delay, Sterns agreed with the judge’s decision and characterized Reading Anthracite’s outlook as upbeat.
“We’re thrilled because there is a clear path to get this sold,” she said.
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