Falls Planners Vote Down Waste Plant Plan

FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA — Planning commissioners in Falls Township voted unanimously Tuesday night against recommending a proposed waste treatment plant be approved.

Commissioners voted 4-0 against a preliminary land-use proposal by Elcon Recycling Services, the Israeli company looking to build a hazardous and medical waste treatment plant that would treat up to 193,000 tons of waste per year.

The denial recommendation from the planners will be passed on to the Falls Township Board of Supervisors, who will have final say on the matter. Supervisors have scheduled a meeting to consider the controversial plan for April 30.

At Tuesday night's meeting, a crowd who had assembled to protest the Elcon plans cheered and gave planning commission members a standing ovation after the vote.

After several years of discussion, Elcon officially submitted a land development proposal to the township on Jan. 25. The company is looking to build a facility at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex, on a 23-acre parcel of land previously owned by U.S. Steel.

In the face of organized opposition from critics who say they fear the potential of air and water pollution from the plant, Falls supervisors have said they are required by law to fairly review and consider the plans.

"We're not going to lie to you, to give you answers you want to hear," said supervisors Chairman Bob Harvie in a news release last week. "It's not our job. I won't do that as long as I'm here."