Sludge-treatment plant on hold after developer pulls plans
The developer of a proposed $26 million sludge treatment plant in Plainfield Township had hoped municipal leaders would have approved the plan this month after nearly three years of review.
But a vote by supervisors never happened, because an attorney representing the project yanked the plan off the table — for now — before more than 100 people about midway through the meeting at Plainfield Township Volunteer Fire Company hall.
“The applicant … would like to withdraw the plan, and we intend to resubmit,” said Michael J. Brennan, an attorney for Waste Management, which has joined Synagro Technologies and Green Knight Economic Development Corp. in seeking to construct the plant.
Project manager James Hecht of Synagro couldn’t say when officials would again put forward plans, but he indicated it became clear that the board wasn’t going to OK the current proposal, much like the planning commission vote Sept. 9 recommending supervisors turn down the project.
“There’s no point in having a vote like that,” he said during a break.
Synagro, Waste Management, which operates the Grand Central landfill off Route 512, and Green Knight are behind the plant, which goes by the name Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center. Synagro estimated it would truck in at least 400 tons of what it classifies as processed sewage sludge to the Grand Central property most days and dry the waste using heat from Green Knight’s methane-to-energy plant on landfill property.
The plant would convert the waste into Class A biosolids, with the product usable as fertilizer or fuel. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which has been reviewing four permit applications by Synagro, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have said that when properly treated and processed, biosolids can be used in areas such as agriculture, landscaping and mine reclamation.
But the prospective plant’s neighbors, as well as representatives from environmental groups, are concerned about the contents of the sludge and what that could mean for the community. They question what will become of the water and air quality in the Plainfield-Pen Argyl area, and how much truck traffic the project would bring along Route 512 and adjoining roads.
The decision to withdraw did little to reduce skepticism among the crowd.
“It’s our thought that they are making an end run and getting DEP permits ahead, and then leveraging them for approval,” said Howard Klein of Lower Mount Bethel Township.
The project’s status with DEP was not clear. Spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said via email that the four permits remain active.
Early in the meeting, solicitor David Backenstoe said project officials asked the township for an 18-month extension, and that was presented as one of several options for supervisors to vote.
After a debate, which was sometimes heated, supervisors Chairman Randy Heard made a motion to deny the project. That prompted the plant officials to pull the proposal, negating a board vote.
Despite being on property zoned for such uses, the project has concerned township officials because the developers failed to perform an environmental impact statement.
Synagro representatives have argued they have supplied the required information, particularly for a basin that was a former quarry site. On Thursday, Hecht said a detailed environmental study takes time. “That’s why we asked for 18 months.”
But board member Jane Mellert said plant officials have asked for 11 extensions, and the township requested an environmental study in March 2018.
While the project’s on hold, it’s been costly to the township. Plainfield officials said taxpayers are on the hook thus far for more than $210,000 to investigate the project, with the money coming from its general fund.
Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone can be reached at 610-820-6694 or asalamone@mcall.com.