For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a Notice of Intent to Deny to Elcon Recycling Services, LLC (Elcon) for its Phase II Part B commercial hazardous waste treatment and storage facility application. After completing a 10-month technical review of materials submitted by the company, DEP has found a number of outstanding deficiencies that remain unaddressed to DEP’s satisfaction.
“This is great news. The PA DEP is denying permits Elcon, now the Elcon mess may be over. The PA DEP is doing their job and standing up for the environment and protecting the people from this hazardous waste facility. They know the project is flawed and the application is deficient. This is a major step forward in ending the dangerous project,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the Sierra Club. “This is a one-two punch to Elcon, one from the PADEP and another from Falls Township. Elcon should get the message that they should withdraw their application and leave. This may end the con from ELCON. Stopping this dangerous project will help protect the Delaware River from all of its toxic chemicals.”
Falls Township officials unanimously turned down the proposed Elcon hazardous waste treatment facility at a special meeting in April. Elcon has proposed building on a 22-acre portion of a 33-acre property in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex. The facility has been expected to process 150,000 to 210,000 tons of chemical and pharmaceutical waste that would be transported to the facility every year.
“Elcon’s process is flawed and the PA DEP said their permits were deficient. The air and water pollution from Elcon could send 600 toxic chemicals into the Falls River and Delaware River as well as surrounding areas in New Jersey. The Delaware River and the drinking water for 6 million people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and must be protected. It is important that the PA DEP saw that there is no way the Elcon facility is safe. Stopping this project will also protect the Basin from fracking wastewater,” said Tittel. “Elcon should be denied based on towns who have already rejected. Last month Falls Township rejected their zone change for the hazardous facility.”
The Elcon facility would turn industrial liquid waste from chemical and pharmaceutical companies into clean water. It is a dangerous facility that puts people around the Delaware River at risk.Trucks would 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.”
“Communities from both sides of the River have been speaking out against this facility. The intense opposition from hundreds of people have come out to DEP and town meetings and the all of the work that POWA has done to keep the pressure on has paid off. Now that PA DEP have denied Elcon, the river is now protected. However, Elcon could come back which why we must remain vigilant and keep the pressure on,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.