OPINION: Chris Kelly Opinion: Landfill expansion a looming, preventable tragedy

Feb. 28—If we knew six years in advance that COVID-19 would sicken our neighbors, weaken our economy and forever stain the outlook on the safety and sanctity of our communities, an alarmed public would demand action to mitigate the looming tragedy.

The 42-year expansion of Keystone Sanitary Landfill could produce all these harms, yet it is on track to be approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection as soon as this week. If the expansion is allowed, the dump will be permitted to pile another 92 million tons of mostly out-of-state trash on Dunmore, Throop and their neighbors between now and 2064.

An infant born today and raised in the regional shadow of "Mount Trashmore" will be in his or her 40s by the time the permit expires. If raising a family in a healthy, opportunity-rich environment is a priority, he or she will be living, working and raising children as far outside Northeast Pennsylvania as possible.

With the daily cascade of catastrophes splashed across the front page lately, it's easy to forget the creeping threat posed by the expansion. Beneath the sound and fury of the pandemic and our poisoned politics, it quietly slithers toward the finish line.

Give thanks to U.S. Sen. Bob Casey for putting it back on blast. In a letter to DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell, Casey dissected the agency's cursory health study, which was conducted over just three months and did not include continuous monitoring of air quality or consider potential groundwater and soil contamination.

Casey also challenged DEP's 2019 environmental assessment of the expansion, which concluded that its benefits would outweigh its harms despite the amplification of those harms over four decades.

"I am concerned by DEP's statement in its environmental assessment that 'all of the harms associated with the proposed Phase III expansion are already associated with the existing landfill operation, albeit these harms would be extended,' " Casey wrote.

"Since 2015, I have been contacted by hundreds of constituents from Lackawanna County, including local officials, school boards and community groups, expressing opposition to the expansion of the Keystone Sanitary Landfill. Many expressed concerns regarding the existing impacts of the landfill, not just environmental risks but also concerns about quality of life and congestion, traffic and vehicle safety risks associated with a major expansion of the landfill."

Keystone spokesman Al Magnotta declined to comment Friday. When we last spoke, he said DEP's positive environmental review was "proof" that Keystone is a state-of-the-art landfill operated according to the industry's highest environmental standards.

Keystone may be the best-run landfill on the planet, but landfills don't belong in the midst of homes, businesses, schools and families. A massive expansion would not only compound its misplacement, but brand our region and its people as too toxic and shortsighted to attract outside investment.

No one wants to move next door to a mountain of garbage. No business wants to invest in a workforce that tolerates the trashing of its communities.

"At some point, northeastern Pennsylvania as a whole, needs to stop being OK with the status quo and the phrase that drives me nuts — 'That's just the way it is,' " Pat Clark told me Friday. A founder of Friends of Lackawanna, Pat said the fight against the expansion is about more than a single landfill.

"It doesn't need to be that way, but we're so desperate for jobs and money, regardless of what the ties or the future implications are. We've just looked the other way for generations. If we want to have any type of future in this area. It's time to stop doing that."

Friends of Lackawanna refused to look away when the expansion was proposed and will carry on the fight whatever DEP decides, Pat said. Win or lose, the grassroots group recruited a small army of resistors and gave voice to overwhelming citizen opposition to the expansion.

The sustained outcry put public health — environmental, psychological and economic — back on the political agenda of elected officials who have long paid it lip service while selling out to polluters.

Casey was an early ally of Friends of Lackawanna. Officials who stood up against the expansion since include: U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, Moosic; state Rep. Kyle Mullins, D-112, Blakely; Dunmore Mayor Timothy Burke, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, members of Dunmore Borough Council, Scranton City Council, the Scranton School Board and the Mid Valley School Board. Outgoing state Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, also opposed the expansion.

"We elected these people, and every single one of them is telling (DEP), 'We're against this because it's not in the best interest of the citizens and the people we represent,' " Clark said. "You don't get a referendum on a landfill, but if every single elected politician stands on your side when they don't have to, it should make a difference.

"They all could have all punted and said, 'It's DEP's decision, we're not going to comment.' Nope. Every single one of them came out in letters speeches, press conferences, telling the DEP this is not in the best interest of their constituents. DEP doesn't represent corporations, they represent people. For (DEP) to ignore those things, they're doing a disservice to how representative government is supposed to work."

When elected leaders express the will of the people they represent, appointed officials ought to listen and act accordingly. DEP exists to protect the environment, not the profits of polluters.

Denying this wildly unpopular, unconscionably extended expansion should be an easy decision. We had little advance warning about COVID-19. The expansion has been debated for six years. Its core fault — it's a landfill surrounded by homes, schools and businesses in the heart of our region — was obvious on Day One.

"Although some people on the fringes predicted a coronavirus could impact the world, it was largely unknown and certainly the scope of it was unknown," Clark said.

"This is entirely known, predictable and forecastable. It's a slowly releasing virus that you're looking at every day, and it's anything but invisible."

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, prizes people over profits.

Contact the writer:

kellysworld@timesshamrock.com,

@cjkink on Twitter.

Read his award-winning blog at times-tribuneblogs.com/kelly.