Falls Supervisors Remain Quiet On Waste Plant Plans

FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA — Plans for a hazardous waste treatment plant in Falls Township were on the minds of many at Tuesday night's board of supervisors meeting. But, for now, the township's leaders are staying quiet about the proposal.

"We’ve been advised by our legal counsel that we shouldn’t comment on Elcon," board vice-chairman Jeff Dence said to the several dozen people in attendance, many of whom spoke out against plans by Elcon Recycling Services. "We hear you. We see you."

On Jan. 25, Elcon officially submitted a land development proposal to the township after roughly four years of planning.

The Israeli company would build a facility at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex, on a 23-acre parcel of land previously owned by U.S. Steel, that would treat up to 193,000 tons of hazardous and pharmaceutical waste per year.

On Tuesday, supervisors said township staff is carefully reviewing the proposal, and that no date to officially consider it will be set until those reviews are done.

"We’re not setting a (meeting) date and saying to our engineer 'have it by this date,' " said supervisors Chairman Bob Harvie. "He’s in the job because we trust him."

Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has until May to decide whether to sign off on the plans.

The environmental protection department has scheduled a public meeting on the proposal for Tuesday, March 5. The meeting will be from 6-9 p.m. at the Sheraton Bucks County Hotel at 400 Oxford Valley Rd. in Langhorne.

By law, Falls Township has 90 days from Jan. 25 to consider Elcon's proposal. But Township Attorney Mike Clarke said Elcon waived that time limit, which "allows a full review to be done."

Some critics, who have voiced concerns about the potential for air pollution, water pollution and accidents at the plant, have asked why the township must consider the plans at all. But supervisors say they are legally obligated to do so.

"(A property owner) does have a right to … develop that property to a way they feel is appropriate," Harvie said. "We don't have the authority to just ignore."

Elcon, which does not have to seek any local zoning variances for the project, has assured the public that the facility — the first in the United States by the company — would be state-of-the-art and safe.

The company says no radioactive waste or waste from oil or gas "fracking" operations would be accepted. The majority of its potential customers are in the tri-state, Delaware Valley region and the facility actually would make things safer, the company says, because those customers currently transport waste via truck and rail car hundreds of miles to use less-sustainable technology to dispose of it.

Artist's rendering courtesy Elcon Recycling