Carbon concerned about Northface project; DEP requests answers

Carbon County is joining Palmerton in sharing concerns about a reclamation project in the borough.

On Thursday, county commissioners spoke about the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Nov. 15 letter regarding technical deficiencies in Phase III Environmental LLC’s permit renewal application of the Northface Business Park.

DEP said the company submitted the permit renewal application to continue using regulated fill as a construction material at the former New Jersey Zinc Company West Plant. The initial application was approved by the state on Aug. 30, 2010, and renewed on Dec. 23, 2013.

The renewal application was for 3 million cubic yards of regulated fill to cap the 120-acre parcel as part of the construction of a business park, but the latest renewal application includes additional acreage and 7.3 million cubic yards of material.

Commissioner William O’Gurek said that the county also has some major concerns.

“DEP is saying in the application that they failed to comply with laws, regulations and policies,” he said.

The most serious concern, O’Gurek pointed out, was made by Palmerton Borough Manager Rodger Danielson in August, when he said in a letter to DEP, “It was initially represented to the community by the project developers that fill levels would rise by 5-10 feet. What was not clear to council or the authority was that the beginning benchmark of fill was already 10 feet above much of the existing ground level. This meant most fill levels were actually 20 feet and sometimes more above the existing ground. This has left water lines for both the authority’s industrial and potable water systems buried by 30 feet.”

O’Gurek outlined the county’s concerns, including the amount of fill already brought onto the site, raising the land way above the 10 feet that the company was permitted; as well as the source of the regulated fill.

According to the records DEP has for the regulated fill locations, most of the 3.4 million tons of fill has come from New York and New Jersey.

“That has become a dumping ground for New York waste,” O’Gurek said, adding that state laws regarding the permitted amount of contaminants in regulated fill are too lenient, which is one of the problems. If I was living down at that end of town, I would be really concerned.”

Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said the county commissioners are not supporting the use of regulated fill in projects like this.

For example, he said, the county could have sold Packerton Yards but the buyer wanted to use regulated fill on the site.

“We wouldn’t allow that,” he said, citing the close proximity of the property to the Lehigh River.

The state outlines a number of other areas that must be updated in the permit application before an approval could be considered. DEP requested an update of the sampling and analysis plan, the amounts of regulated fill from several proposed areas and more.

According to DEP, Phase III has 60 business days to submit a response fully addressing each deficiency or the permit, which is set to expire at the end of the year, may be denied.

An attempt to contact George Petrole, Northface’s chief operations officer, was unsuccessful this morning.

In September, Palmerton borough leaders also voiced their opinion of the project as part of DEP’s permit renewal process. The letter asked DEP to not renew the company’s permit unless certain issues were addressed.

At the time, Danielson cited damage to the roads from the truck traffic to the site, an adequate stormwater management plan not being submitted, damage to a borough water authority pump house, the amount of fill being dumped on the site and the buried water pipes, which could have devastating consequences to businesses or residents if a water line breaks.

“If we need to make changes to the water system, those water lines are buried pretty deep in the ground,” Danielson said in September. “Some of these things could be really expensive and we’re concerned about them, which is why we’ve reached out to DEP.”

Danielson said a break in the borough’s industrial water line could, “cause closure of a business and end jobs for 200 people indefinitely, while a break in the potable line would shut down a well that produces around 20 percent of the borough’s daily use.”