For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
Elcon Recycling Services LLC has applied a second time to build their hazardous waste facility in Falls, Twp. Pa with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). In May the agency rejected their application due to its being “administratively incomplete.” The PADEP’s letter highlighted six ways that their application was administratively incomplete including not addressing several issues with land use and planning as well as missing an analysis of how the plant would affect the underground environment. The 70,000 square foot toxic waste treatment facility would be located in the Keystone Industrial Park, Falls Township, PA on the Delaware River. The DEP now has 90 days to determine if Elcon addressed the originally determined definitizes.
“The dangerous and polluting Elcon facility on the Delaware River is back. Despite originally being rejected by the PADEP in May, Elcon is applying once more to build their hazardous waste facility in Falls, Twp., PA. This would have devastating effects on our side in New Jersey as well. The air and water pollution from this hazardous waste facility will come across the River right into our towns and communities. If there is a spill or a leak, the water supply intakes in both Trenton and Delran would be impacted, threatening the water supply for millions of people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This is nothing but a con; it’s a dangerous hazardous waste facility that puts people around the Delaware River at risk. We need to work together to stop this hazardous Elcon proposal no matter which side of the River we live on.”
This issue becomes even more important because the Delaware River Basin Commission is proposing to allowing fracking waste in the Delaware Basin in their latest proposed resolution. Fracking involves injecting huge amounts of water and chemicals in rock formations that can pollute surrounding aquifers and waterways. This requires mixing millions of gallons of water with toxic chemicals including volatile organic chemicals like benzene, methyl benzene, formaldehyde, and others that are linked to cancer. The process also releases toxic chemicals like arsenic and mercury that are naturally trapped in the shale. The average well uses 2.5 to 4.5 million gallons of water for fracking, many wells are fracked two to three times. Drilling will also require trillions of gallons of water.
“If the DRBC allows the dumping of fracking waste in the Basin, it will be more incentive for this damaging facility to be built. We could see the treated waste from the facility being dumped right on top of our drinking water sources. Dumping fracking wastewater is dangerous because it contains over 600 different toxic chemicals, many of them carcinogenic. This could lead to pollution and contaminated drinking water. The DRBC needs to not only implement this ban but also be sure not to turn the Basin into a dumping ground for fracking waste water,” said Jeff Tittel.
There is only one other facility similar to this one proposed in Falls Twp. That facility is also owned by Elcon Recycling and is located in Haifa Bay, Israel. Elcon has consistently exceeded limits on various toxic pollutants in its discharged water and air emissions from that facility. We are concerned that a facility here would face the same issues and end up polluting the Delaware River and our region’s air.
“The Delaware River provides drinking water for millions of people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Our water supply will be at risk if there is an accident or spill, or if there is a leak at the tanks on site it could go into the River. Tides could push chemicals right into Trenton’s water supply intake threatening the public’s drinking water. Our rivers belong to all of us. Across the country we are opening up our riverfronts for people and instead this toxic incinerator could push away not only people, but residential and commercial development. This project is dangerous to our environment and communities; it must be stopped,” said Tittel.
The transportation and storage of hazardous materials with the chance of an accident or spill is enough to deny this application. Trucks will be moving in or out of the site, 17-25 a day, bringing in toxic chemicals to be burnt or toxic ash to be sent to a land fill. If just one of them were to spill it could have a disastrous impact on the neighborhood and water resources in the area. The Philadelphia Water Co. said that any spill would be “catastrophic.”
“We would be playing Russian Roulette with the thousands of trucks, close to 7,500 a year, going in and out of the facility each year. They would be carrying millions of gallons of toxic waste into the facility and then carrying toxic sludge out of it along our roads and putting our citizens in danger if they overturn or leak. If one of those trucks falls into the Delaware it will close down water supply intakes for weeks,” said Jeff Tittel.
The contamination from storage of chemicals in West Virginia last year shows the threats to storing chemicals above water supply intakes. Toxic ash and dangerous particles from the thousands of pounds of waste to be burnt every day at this proposed facility could threaten communities’ air quality and public health. The application lists almost 600 chemicals including lead, cadmium, and mercury.
“The prevailing winds would send toxic chemicals through the air into New Jersey, having a bigger impact to our air than in Pennsylvania. The waste from this facility will end up as vapor that we breathe in. When you burn hazardous waste like nail polish removers, pesticides and other toxic chemicals, you don’t get rid of it. Instead it is just changing forms releasing pollution and some toxins into the air polluting our environment. This region already has some of the worst air quality in the nation being ranked in the top 20 worst areas. Now air quality could get even worse with a giant smokestack belching toxins into the air,” said Tittel.
The facility would turn industrial liquid waste from chemical and pharmaceutical companies into clean water. Elcon would bring in almost 600 dangerous chemicals that could pollute our air and water. It would put the entire water supply for 6 million people at risk of contamination.
“Communities on both sides of the River have been speaking out against this proposal and we need to keep that momentum going. Elcon has already delayed their application because they know people don’t want to deal with the safety and environmental concerns of this plant. A toxic facility like the one Elcon is proposing would present severe environmental risk for communities along the Delaware River,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We need to keep fighting together against this facility so that we can stop this application process for good and prevent a toxic nightmare on the Delaware River.”