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HARRISBURG (MAY 9) –
Less than three weeks after
Commonwealth Court refused to order
the Stine Farm dump site in Lower
Mount Bethel Township to close down,
the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) has filed a
petition asking the court to
reconsider and reverse its
decision.
According to State Senator Lisa M.
Boscola, DEP filed the application
for reconsideration on May 3rd.
That petition also asks Commonwealth
Court to allow DEP to present its
case “en banc,” or before the full
court.
“The Stines continue to
operate a dump site without the
proper permits and in violation of a
previous court order,” Boscola
said. “It’s long past time for the
court to put an end to these
delaying tactics and close the site
down before another fire ignites and
burns out of control. The
consequences could be deadly.”
On April 2nd, eight
fire companies – including two from
New Jersey – took five hours to
extinguish the latest blaze at the
dump site.
According to Boscola, DEP’s
petition contends that the Stines
have created an even “greater risk
of fire hazard” at the site by
continuing to accept more stumps,
woodchips, and other debris in
violation of a court order.
“Even though there have been
repeated attempts over many years to
bring this operation into compliance
with state law and regulations, I’m
happy DEP officials refuse to give
up,” Boscola said. “It’s obvious
that the only way this dump site
will ever be cleaned up is to shut
it down and prevent the owners from
continuing to illegally accept more
stumps and construction debris for
disposal.”
Both Boscola and State Rep. Rich
Grucela have urged DEP Secretary
Katie McGinty to step up enforcement
and compliance efforts at the site
in order to prevent future fires
from threatening the surrounding
community.
“I am still very concerned for those
neighboring residents who could be
facing a situation that grows more
dangerous every day because of the
site operator’s reckless actions,” Boscola said. “These individuals
persist in putting the health and
safety of local residents at risk,
despite being held in contempt of
court at least nine previous times
for continuous problems at this same
site.”
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(FOR A COPY OF THE 27-PAGE PETITION
FILED BY DEP,
CONTACT MEGHAN COURSEN AT (610)
868-8667.)
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