PA DEP Sets Meeting on Proposed Waste Treatment Facility
Elcon Recycling Services, LLC wants to construct and operate a hazardous waste treatment and storage facility to treat and store liquid waste at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex in Falls Township, Bucks County.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will host a public meeting March 5 on Elcon Recycling Services, LLC's proposed plan to construct and operate a hazardous waste treatment and storage facility to treat and store liquid waste at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex in Falls Township, Bucks County. The meeting will take place from 6-9 p.m. at the Sheraton Bucks County Hotel in Langhorne.
The Keystone complex is a brownfield site located on the Delaware River in Fairless Hills. It is the former site of U.S. Steel's Fairless Works, which was contaminated with heavy metals and trichloroethylene before the Fairless Works shut down. Parts of the site have been successfully remediated, and the site houses some clean energy companies today.
The public meeting will be held to answer questions from the public regarding the permit applications for the project. Representatives from DEP's Waste Management, Air Quality, and Clean Water programs will be on hand to discuss permit applications currently under review. Elcon has applied to DEP for a Solid Waste Management Permit for a commercial hazardous waste treatment and storage facility, an Air Quality Plan Approval, and a General Stormwater Discharge permit.
After Elcon submitted the solid waste management permit application, DEP conducted administrative completeness reviews and found the application to be administratively complete. The agency began a 10-month technical review in July 2018.
Elcon applied for the Air Quality Plan Approval as a minor facility on Oct. 16, 2018. The application has been deemed administratively complete and is currently under technical review. The review ensures the facility will meet all applicable rules and regulations, as well as meeting the best available technology, for any air pollution sources and any associated air pollution control equipment.
Elcon also applied for the General Stormwater Discharge permit on Oct. 16, 2018. The administratively complete application is currently under technical review. NPDES (National Pollutants Discharge Elimination System) permits and best management practices are used to control stormwater runoff and pollution prevention. This permit would be limited to stormwater discharges only.
Elcon has reported that its proposed U.S. facility is 22 acres in size, zoned for industrial operations, and designated by Pennsylvania as one of 12 Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zones in the state. It is outside any designated wetlands area and the flood of record, according to the company, which reported that the first phase of facility construction will be a 70,000-square-foot building, anticipated to be expanded by an additional 70,000 square feet in Phase 2.