Proposed warehouse raises concerns
A proposed warehouse in Hanover Township, Northampton County, has caught the attention of the Monocacy Creek Watershed Association.
In a recent social media statement, the association is asking its members and friends to send comments to the state Department of Environmental Protection about the Gateway Warehouse/Distribution Center that Arcadia Development Corp. plans to build at 300 Gateway Drive.
The 250,292-squarefoot warehouse will replace the SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western. It’s located just off Route 512 and visible from Route 22.
The association’s concern is with stormwater runoff.
“The new warehouse would expand on the current footprint of the hotel into an undeveloped lot to the west,” the association said in the post on its Facebook page. “The plans call for storm water to be routed to detention basins and then to an existing culvert under Route 22 and into the creek.”
The DEP will accept comments through Jan. 8 by email or mail. They should include a reference to the “Arcadia/Gateway Warehouse Distribution Center Proposal.”
Email correspondence should go to RA-EPWW-NERO@pa.gov and include a cc to pkania@ pa.gov.
Comments via mail should be addressed to Pamela Kania, DEP Northeast Regional Office, 2 Public Square, WilkesBarre, PA 18701-1915.
The association said the warehouse could have a negative impact on Monocacy Creek’s status as a “high quality” waterway. According to the
DEP, streams with excellent water quality may be designated High Quality Waters and can be lowered only if a discharge is the result of “necessary social or economic development, the water quality criteria are met and all existing uses of the stream are protected.”
“The presence of [a high-quality] waterway in a densely populated, urbanized community like the Lehigh Valley is exceptionally rare and precious,” the Monocacy Creek Watershed Association said in its post. “Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life have access to an incredible resource. The Monocacy Creek has borne the brunt of warehouse development over the last decade. The creek has proven to be resilient, but it’s unclear how much more stress it can handle.”
The booming warehousing industry in the Lehigh Valley has been on the radar of environmentalists for years, especially when it concerns the Valley’s waterways.
In April, the Lehigh River was named the seventh-most endangered river in the U.S. by American Rivers. The “America’s Most Endangered Rivers” report said the proliferation of warehouse and distribution centers and poor planning in the Valley poses a risk to river health.
The Monocacy Creek flows into the Lehigh near downtown Bethlehem.
The Arcadia/Gateway project was reviewed by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission in May. It expressed concern over the width of the street leading to the warehouse, as it would share it with another hotel and a bank.