The state Department of Environmental Protection temporarily extended Keystone Sanitary Landfill\u2019s expiring operating permit for a second time Monday, giving the agency additional time to monitor the landfill\u2019s odor controls and reevaluate a harms-benefits analysis.<\/p>\n
The DEP announced Tuesday morning that it issued a 15-month temporary extension of the landfill\u2019s operating permit until Dec. 31, 2026. The operating permit for the Louis and Dominick DeNaples-owned landfill in Dunmore and Throop was initially set to expire April 6, but two days prior to its expiration, the DEP granted a six-month extension through Oct. 6. In both instances, the department attributed the extensions to an April 1 ruling from the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, or EHB, that remanded the landfill\u2019s controversial Phase III expansion approval back to the DEP over odor and excessive leachate issues.<\/p>\n
The DEP originally granted the landfill\u2019s decadeslong expansion June 3, 2021, giving Keystone the capacity to triple its volume of waste into the 2060s by adding 94 million tons of garbage, or about 188 billion pounds.<\/p>\n
The DEP has not approved other operation or construction changes, according to the news release.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis extension will allow review and oversight of the odor control corrective measures recently completed at the landfill, so we can ensure that the community is not adversely affected by odors from the facility,\u201d DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley said in a statement Tuesday. \u201cDEP is focused on removing stray odors, ensuring the environment around the landfill is protected, and protecting quality of life for the community. DEP is extending the current permit so we have the time to consider the permit renewal application and can ensure that DEP is providing the best possible oversight of this facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Operating permits normally expire after 10 years, but the EHB\u2019s decision in April upended that timeline when a panel of five judges determined that the department had erred by approving the landfill\u2019s 42.4-year Phase III expansion despite knowing it had issues with producing too much leachate and managing its odors. Leachate is the liquid that percolates through piles of garbage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Department must assess on remand whether additional measures to control odors and leachate \u2026 warrant inclusion in the landfill\u2019s permit or changes to the landfill\u2019s operating plans,\u201d the judges wrote in the decision.<\/p>\n
As a primary remedy to control odors from its leachate lagoons, Keystone began using two 2.5-million-gallon enclosed leachate storage tanks in September, along with an odor control system for its leachate treatment plant, according to the DEP.<\/p>\n
\u201cKSL has also implemented numerous leachate generation minimization measures at the facility, and while KSL has been in compliance with DEP\u2019s leachate storage regulations since these measures were implemented, this additional time will enable the department to confirm that this concern is addressed,\u201d the agency said in the news release. \u201cDEP will consider these mitigation measures in the review of the permit renewal application.\u201d<\/p>\n
The department said Tuesday it also granted the extension to give itself time to evaluate the landfill\u2019s Sept. 17 response to its July 18 technical deficiency letter, as well as any additional deficiencies the DEP may identify during its review.<\/p>\n
A letter sent Monday from Roger Bellas, the program manager at DEP\u2019s Waste Management Program, to landfill Site Manager Dominic DeNaples Jr. expands on the news release. Beyond giving the DEP more time to evaluate the landfill\u2019s Sept. 17 response, it gives the landfill time to respond to any additional deficiencies the DEP may identify, Bellas wrote. Bellas also references the EHB\u2019s decision, writing that the remand required the DEP to consider whether additional conditions or modifications to the landfill\u2019s Phase III permit modification or operating plans are necessary to further control and mitigate offsite odors and excess leachate generation.<\/p>\n
With the implementation of the leachate storage tanks in September, the DEP needs sufficient time to determine if the odor mitigation measures have fully mitigated the offsite odor concerns and to reevaluate its harms-benefits analysis of the landfill\u2019s expansion, according to Bellas.<\/p>\n
The EHB\u2019s April ruling was critical of Bellas\u2019 role in the 2019 harms-benefits analysis, which ultimately concluded that the expansion\u2019s benefits \u201cclearly outweigh the known and potential harms.\u201d<\/p>\n
In its ruling, the EHB\u2019s judges wrote that Erika Bloxham, a facility specialist in the DEP\u2019s waste management program in the Northeast region who was tasked with completing the analysis, concluded that the benefits did not outweigh the harms, primarily because, in her opinion, Keystone had not mitigated the excess leachate production to the fullest extent possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, Ms. Bloxham\u2019s supervisor, Roger Bellas, the waste program manager for the Northeast region, disagreed and authored the conclusion of the analysis for the Department,\u201d the judges wrote.<\/p>\n
In a message Tuesday, Dunmore Council President Janet Brier contended the DEP \u201cshould not grant an extension until the daily odor problem is eliminated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilwoman Katherine Mackrell Oven said she\u2019s glad the DEP is taking time to look closely at the EHB\u2019s ruling, rather than simply issuing a new permit.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur communities have lived with the landfill\u2019s impacts for years, and residents deserve a decision that fully protects their health, environment and quality of life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Pat Clark, a leader of grassroots landfill opposition group Friends of Lackawanna, called it a positive step for the DEP to update its harms-benefits analysis, and he commended Shirley as DEP secretary for being willing to \u201ctake a clean look\u201d at the landfill and heeding the guidance and instruction of the EHB. Friends of Lackawanna appealed the Phase III expansion in July 2021, bringing the case in front of the environmental judges.<\/p>\n
Clark hopes the DEP shuts down the landfill when it makes a determination in 15 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we\u2019ve been saying for years now, once all of the known harms are properly considered, which the board indicates they now have to consider, the conclusion is going to be pretty clear that the benefits simply don\u2019t clearly outweigh the harms on our community,\u201d Clark said. \u201cWhen they conclude that, the logical result is that finding should mark the beginning of the end of this operation that\u2019s been burdening this area for far too long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark said he has no faith that the landfill\u2019s odors and leachate will be controlled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no way to conclude that this stuff is going to work this time, because it hasn\u2019t worked at all for over a decade,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd as the landfill gets bigger, it is perfectly logical, if not inescapable, to conclude that it\u2019s going to keep happening and most likely get worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attempts to reach landfill consultant Al Magnotta were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
The DEP concluded its letter to the landfill Monday by cautioning, \u201cIf the terms of the permit extension are not complied with, it is not guaranteed that this permit term will be extended again,\u201d Bellas wrote. \u201cIn that event, KSL may have to prepare to cease all operations at the site and commence closure activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
DEP staff will continue to address odor complaints related to the landfill, the agency said in its news release. To file a complaint with the DEP by phone, call the Northeast Regional Office\u2019s main line at 570-826-2511. To file a complaint online, visit greenport.pa.gov\/obPublic\/EnvironmentalComplaintForm\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n Originally Published: October 7, 2025 at 12:58 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The state Department of Environmental Protection temporarily extended Keystone Sanitary Landfill\u2019s expiring operating permit for a second time…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":285699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[82641,746,13162,728,50,2830,159,147094,23939,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-285698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-dunmore","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-lackawanna-county","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-pennsylvania","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-throop","16":"tag-top-stories-stt","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115336863261958403","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}