DCS Director Barbara Arrindell’s Comments to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection:

I am writing for an environmental organization, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability (DCS). As the Director, I have overseen many explorations of the negative effects of both water and air borne chemicals on human and environmental health.

Falls Township, on the Delaware River, is less than 17 miles north of Philadelphia’s Samuel S. Baxter Water Treatment Plant (9001 State Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19136). This water plant, also on the Delaware, supplies about 65% of Philadelphia’s water. Elcon Recycling Services has proposed building a hazardous waste treatment facility in Falls Township, less than a half mile from the Delaware River. Philadelphia is a city of 1.5 million people whose largest source of water could be contaminated by a spill from Elcon’s proposed plant.

DCS opposes Elcon’s proposal to build a hazardous waste treatment facility in Falls Township and applauds PA DEP’s decision to issue the company a draft denial. We urge you to issue a final denial.

As you know, this project carries significant health and environmental risks that could affect families living on both sides of the river. Even one spill or leak could pollute the drinking water for millions of people, and dangerous toxins released into the atmosphere could have catastrophic effects on everyone, especially our children. The proposed plant would spew a minimum of 150 tons of toxins into the air each year. Bucks County already has some of the worst air quality in the state, so we don’t need another toxic waste incinerator belching dangerous poisons into the air.

I’m counting on the DEP to stand up for the health of our communities and finalize the decision to deny Elcon the hazardous waste permit it needs to move forward with this dangerous project. You have the full support of DCS in this.

The DEP is accepting public comments on its draft denial until July 15.
Conservation Voters of PA make it easy to comment.