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Scranton Times Editorial: Give Teeth To DEP Environmental Justice Policy

This editorial first appeared in the Scranton Times August 27, 2023--

Environmental degradation sometimes flows from natural circumstances. The presence of valuable minerals in a particular place draws mining to extract them, for example.

That, coupled with the state government’s long-standing policy of allowing polluters to do so with impunity, is why Northeast Pennsylvania has been dealing for decades with the lingering environmental effects of massive anthracite mining.

And environmental degradation begets more environmental degradation. Northeast Pennsylvania suffers from that, as well, in the development of landfills, power plants and other major polluters on mine-scarred land that can’t be used for much else.

And as Lackawanna County especially demonstrates, bearing a disproportionate pollution burden does not dissuade state regulators from allowing developers to degrade the environment even further.

Witness the state Department of Environmental Protection’s disastrous approval of the Keystone Sanitary Landfill’s expansion plan, which would allow it to accept 94 million more tons of mostly out-of-state garbage.

That the county already hosts the sprawling Keystone landfill in Dunmore and Throop, and the Alliance Landfill in Taylor and Ransom Twp., had no role in the agency’s permit decision.

But on August 17, the DEP announced an upgraded environmental justice policy for the first time since 2004 that it will begin to enforce as of September 16. [Read more here]

The policy includes a formula to determine an environmental justice area by using 32 environmental, health and socioeconomic indicators including income.

They include existing environmental hazards such as abandoned mines and polluted waterways, asthma rates that indicate high concentrations of certain air pollutants, proximity to mining and gas-drilling, landfill operations and more.

Developers seeking permits beginning September 16 must consult an interactive map developed by the DEP to determine whether the proposed site is in an environmental justice area. Inclusion in such an area would trigger greater regulatory scrutiny by the agency, including more inspections and greater penalties for violations.

Meanwhile, Democratic state Sen. Art Haywood has introduced a bill to require a separate permitting process for projects in environmental justice areas, including mandatory public notices and hearings. [Read more here]

The DEP aggressively should enforce the revised regulation and the Legislature should pass Haywood’s bill.

(Photo: Keystone Landfill, Lackawanna County, Scranton Times.)

NewsClips:

-- Delco Times: Chester Bankruptcy Receiver Warns Of Projects That Could Handcuff City Finances And Negatively Impact Residents’ Health On Heels Of Hearing On Proposed LNG Natural Gas Export Project In The City [PDF of article]

-- Warren Times: Natural Gas Well Setbacks Questioned After Health Impact Studies

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Residents Call For Action After Health Studies Link Natural Gas Development To Asthma, Lymphoma

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Clean Air And A Healthy Climate Can Be Pennsylvania Future - By Vanessa Lynch, Moms Clean Air Force

-- WESA: Garfield Community Farm Hosts Environmental Justice Event, Commemorates Federal Inflation Reduction Act

Related Articles - Recent:

-- Scranton Times Editorial: Give Teeth To DEP Environmental Justice Policy [PaEN]

-- DEP Citizens Advisory Council Meets Sept. 12 On Environmental Justice Policy; DEP Customer Service Initiatives; Risks With Carbon Capture, Sequestration [PaEN]

-- DEP Oil & Gas Advisory Board Meets Sept. 5 On Proposed Permit Fee Changes; Well Plugging Financial Assurances To Prevent Abandonments; Environmental Justice Policy; Injection Well Primacy [PaEN]