Politics & Government

Burlington County Opposes Proposed Hazardous Waste Site

Elcon intends to build a hazardous waste treatment facility along the Delaware River in Falls Township, Pennsylvania.

Burlington County officials have voiced their opposition to a proposal by Elcon Recycling Services, LLC to build a hazardous waste treatment facility along the Delaware River in Falls Township, Pennsylvania.

“I am deeply troubled by the proposed Elcon project which poses serious health risks to not only individuals in Bucks County, but to thousands of Burlington County residents who demand clean air and drinking water,” Burlington County Freeholder Deputy Director Linda Hughes said after the freeholder board passed a resolution voicing their opposition to the facility. “As the Freeholder Board has done in the past, we took action again this evening and joined several of our riverfront communities who are opposed to this hazardous waste treatment facility. I am urging the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to consider the negative impacts this development could have on our residents’ quality of life and immediately reject Elcon’s application.”

Hughes sponsored the resolution. The Freeholder Board previously adopted resolutions opposing the proposed Elcon facility in February 2017 and January 2015.

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“Elcon has applied to receive close to 600 different kinds of waste, producing 800 tons of hazardous sludge per year and 5,000 tons of hazardous salts,” county officials said. “Given the prevailing winds out of the west, the location of this facility will undoubtedly have a direct impact on the residents of Burlington County and other nearby communities. Equally as troublesome, the proposed proximity of this facility to the Delaware River could also have a direct impact on the drinking water supply of millions of residents.”

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