May 5—EBENSBURG, Pa. — Cambria County Senior Judge Timothy P. Creany recused himself from a case that will decide whether a hotly contested asphalt plan will be erected in Richland Township.

Last August, a decision by the Richland Township Zoning Hearing Board granted permission for Quaker Sales Corp. to build an asphalt manufacturing plant on Mine 37 Road near the intersection with Eisenhower Boulevard. Several Richland Township homeowners subsequently filed an appeal in Cambria County civil court.

Thursday's hearing was set to be the culmination of the last eight months since the appeal was filed. Creany said he and attorneys on both sides of the issue have been working to schedule a hearing.

About a dozen people gathered at the Cambria County Courthouse on Thursday expecting to hear arguments and a decision on whether the court would allow the zoning decision to stand. Instead, Creany apologized that he would have to recuse himself.

"I understand there is a difficult decision to be made, and I'm not shying away from that," he said. "But two days ago, something came to my attention, and I decided that regardless of my decision, I could be subject to criticism and others as well. I just don't want to be in a position where anybody in this court could be criticized because I took the matter forward."

He said he will request the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts to quickly appoint a senior judge from another county to make a decision in the case.

The records provided by both sides of the zoning hearing board's decision are thorough, Creany said.

"It's not a complicated matter that should delay a decision much longer," he said. "I have not revealed the exact reason why I am recusing myself, but I think it is a valid one — something I feel would subject the court to criticism regardless of how I decide the case."

Creany's decision was respected by the defendants and plaintiffs.

The defendant, Richland Township Zoning Hearing Board, was represented by attorney Eric Hochfeld. In addition, as intervenor in support of the defendant, Quaker Sales' attorney, Denver Wharton, was also present, as was company President Donald Overdorff and project manager Caleb Overdorff.

On the opposite side of the courtroom were three attorneys — Joe Green, Wayne Langerholc Jr. and Michael Carbonara — themselves residents of the area immediate to the planned asphalt plant. They have jointly filed the appeal on behalf of themselves and seven other homeowners and families.

To increase efficiency, the locally owned Quaker Sales Corp. plans to invest in a new asphalt plant to replace its nearly 40-year-old plant in West Taylor Township.

The proposed site of the plant in Richland has a zoning classification for light industrial operations.

Township ordinance for light industrial zones prescribes "no smoke, fumes, odor, dust, noise, vibration or glaring light is noticeable from outside any lot in this district."

"How can this plant fit the picture of a light industrial zone?" a township resident asked Thursday, echoing the concerns people have made throughout the zoning hearings that began last April.

Residents have expressed concerns about an asphalt odor, dust hanging in the air, and increased traffic of heavy trucks that would transport the asphalt.

Several studies commissioned by Quaker Sales have asserted the impact of VOC emissions — or volatile organic compounds — as well as noise and traffic would be minimal, drowned out by a thick buffer of trees on the property.