Hundreds turn out to protest proposal to reuse York County Superfund landfill site

Angel Albring
York Daily Record

More than 700 residents attended a meeting Wednesday night at the Eureka Fire Hall in Stewartstown to protest the proposed re-opening of a former landfill in Hopewell Township that was designated as a Superfund site.

The building, which has a capacity of 660, was filled before the meeting even began, so people sat outside of the fire hall and listened in via speakers.

The York County Solid Waste Authority is considering reusing the York County Sanitary Landfill off of Plank Road in Stewartstown, but residents say they have suffered enough.

More than 700 residents attended a meeting Wednesday night at the Eureka Fire Hall in Stewartstown to protest the proposed re-opening of a former Superfund site landfill in Hopewell Township. The building had a capacity of 660, so people sat outside the fire hall and listened to the meeting via speakers.

"The people in this town paid their dues 30 years ago, and they don't want this here," said Carl Helrich, owner of Allegro Winery.

Hopewell Township resident Ken Smith said residents were told it would be used for incinerator ash and incinerable objects, or items that cannot be burned, which could include construction materials.

The ash would be wet when it is delivered to the site so that it is not carried off by wind. Tarps would not be used to cover it. Instead, YCSWA Executive Director David Vollero said, wet ash would be placed on top daily, keeping it compact.

Carl Helrich talks about growing grapes at Cadenza Vineyards.

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Helrich said that ash would be just 20 feet from his grapevines. The picturesque scene visitors are treated to when they come to his winery would be gone, and he wasn't confident that wind would not blow ash onto his vineyard.

Vollero said at the meeting that the tops of the trees currently growing around the landfill are about 70 feet from the ground. The ash would go 10 feet over that, or 80 feet from the ground, completely blocking out the view of the trees.

According to a post on the waste authority's website, "landfill capacity for the county has been secured through a contract with Modern Landfill. That contract is set to expire at the end of 2025."

Vollero said the majority of the county's landfill needs have been satisfied by Modern Landfill since 1987, and since 1997, all of the ash was going to that landfill.

"That means that the county has been really dependent on Modern Landfill for more than a quarter century," Vollero said. "So, what that means is that with the current uncertainty of Modern Landfill going forward, it's really incumbent upon the Solid Waste Authority to evaluate all of its options for providing landfill disposal capacity, which we need, and one obvious scenario to evaluate is reusing the site here in Hopewell Township."

Vollero said if this site is reopened, it would be used only for York County waste and that the waste authority expects the landfill to last for 50 years.

A graph shows landfill reuse section views for the Hopewell Township projects.

Currently, Modern Landfill accepts waste from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. When asked at the meeting what percentage of the waste was from other states, Vollero said he did not have an immediate answer.

"A couple of reasons we think this is a good candidate site is because there is existing infrastructure. ... We have an excellent understanding of the site hydrology, which is important in any kind of landfill. The site is already owned by the solid waste authority," Vollero said. "It's already been impacted by landfilling, and the waste authority has already demonstrated its commitment and ability to conduct the site and to manage long-term remediation and do what needs to be done to manage the site at this point."

Hopewell Township resident Ken Smith stands in a playground area in the Hopewell Township recreation area on August 8, 2022 that may be removed to open a landfill on the property that is part of a closed landfill and former Superfund site.

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According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the waste authority began operating a 300-acre landfill in Hopewell Township in 1974. In 1982, the authority discovered contaminants in the groundwater because of an unlined 135-acre area of the landfill.

The waste authority closed that portion in 1985 and it was placed on the National Priorities List Superfund in 1987. The Superfund program is used to investigate and clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. The landfill was removed from the Superfund list in 2005.

The waste authority and Hopewell Township worked together to transform the former landfill into a 200-acre recreation facility, a wildlife habitat, personnel offices and a solar energy array that powers the site’s groundwater cleanup efforts.

The grasslands around the former landfill are home to more than 22 species of birds, including the short-eared owl, which is endangered in Pennsylvania. The site is also a Monarch Butterfly sanctuary. Monarchs were placed on the endangered species list July 21.

When discussing re-use of the landfill, Vollero said that having a landfill in York County is preferable because it reduces costs to transport waste and it reduces environmental impact.

"There's more adverse environmental impacts the further you're shipping waste, so, environmentally, solving your problem locally is just better," he said.

The former Superfund site in Hopewell Township is home to the endangered Short Eared Owl.

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Kim Carl, a Stewartstown Borough Council member, said she ran for her seat with an economic development change platform and thinks the economic impact of having this landfill in Hopewell Township is a concern. She would rather keep the recreational complex as it is and connect it to the Rail Trail system in Central Pennsylvania."We need tax dollars from tourism, and this won't help," she said. "This community paid the price 37 years ago."

Vollero said for this proposal to move forward, the waste authority would need to reach an agreement with the Hopewell Township Board of Supervisors. No official proposal has been made.

"We don't make the waste. We're just trying to solve the problem," he said.

YCSWA will post updated information on its website at ycswa.com/york-county-sanitary-landfill-possible-reuse.