Group threatens to sue landfill operators over permit delays
NEW SEWICKLEY TWP. – A citizen-led environmental organization may sue operators of a Beaver County landfill for delays in obtaining a current air pollution control permit.
GASP, or Group Against Smog and Pollution, on Nov. 15 sent operators of the J.J. Brunner landfill in New Sewickley Township a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Air Act and Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act for “continued failure” to submit a timely application for a Title V operating permit. The federal Title V program streamlines air quality permitting for major sources of emissions nationwide.
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Landfill operators first applied for a permit in 2013, according to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection records cited by GASP. Two years later, operators replaced their then-existing gas flare and leachate evaporation system without prior DEP authorization ― rendering the 2013 application incomplete "because the equipment described by the permit application no longer matched the equipment at the facility,” said GASP attorney John Baillie.
DEP returned a revised permit application as incomplete in September 2021 for failure to properly notify Beaver County and New Sewickley Township officials.
“Because the landfill is operating equipment that has not been properly permitted, valid limits and restrictions have not been established for the equipment,” Baillie said. “It may be impossible to determine for sure whether the equipment is being operated properly until acceptable performance tests are conducted, and such limits and restrictions are set.”
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In January 2021, DEP issued a notice of violation to the Brunner Landfill for the installation and operation of air contamination sources without DEP authorization, state regulators said. In June 2021, Brunner submitted an air quality plan approval application for these sources, which is “currently under review.”
“Title V operating permits are important because when issued, they must include all emission limits and operating restrictions to which the source is subject,” GASP said. “Such permits make it easier to determine whether or not the source is complying with those limits and restrictions.”
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Group threatens to sue Beaver County landfill operators over permit delays
