PLAINFIELD TWP., Pa. - A Northampton County community is divided over a major proposed landfill expansion.
The Plainfield Township Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 in a special meeting Wednesday night to send Waste Management's controversial rezoning request to the township planning commission, but many people aren't happy about it.
The proposal is to expand the Grand Central Landfill's footprint by more than 200 acres, 81 of which would be directly used for garbage.
To achieve this, Waste Management is seeking a zoning map amendment and two text amendments to the zoning ordinance that would allow for the rezoning of 211 acres of land next to the landfill. The adjacent land is currently zoned for farm and forest uses, and the expansion would run up against a new waterway, the Waltz Creek. WM wants to rezone the area for solid waste processing and disposal use, and says it would monitor any runoff.
Eighty-one of the acres would be used for landfill operations, while the rest would not be used for landfilling, according to a WM spokesperson. Officials also say the amount of trash being processed through the landfill will not change.
The proposed expansion is meant to extend the life of the landfill for more than 20 years, whereas it is currently set to be full in about four years.
This is not the first time that Grand Central Landfill has proposed this expansion. The request was shot down in 2020 by a different township board after a series of meetings during which Plainfield Township residents opposed the proposal.
69 News asked Waste Management's senior community relations manager, Adrienne Fors, if this proposal is any different.
"Not really," Fors said. "It's essentially the same thing as far as footprint goes."
Many speakers weren't happy to see that "same thing" come back. Dozens of residents filled the Plainfield Township Fire Co. on Wednesday night to have their voices heard before the board came to a final vote.
Concerns from the public included potential health risks, increased truck traffic and financial impacts on local residents.
"The board, for years, they pushed farmland preservation, and now you want to take 200 acres of that farmland and just cover it with trash," said one man.
But Fors argued that Waste Management's plan does make an effort to preserve the surrounding environment.
"The green area here that you see is about 78 acres, and it includes a woodland and a wetland area, and setbacks," Fors said. "So all of this would be, for the most part, undisturbed."
Many residents spoke about how they are already negatively impacted by the existing landfill.
"The terrible odor, the loose plastic bags that flow in the wind and get caught in our trees, the truck traffic," said Deborah, a resident of Plainfield Township for over 20 years. "I implore you to vote 'no' on the request to start this new landfill for the sake of our health."
Gail, another lifelong resident of Plainfield Township, claimed that a doctor told her there was a "thyroid cancer cluster in the slate belt."
"We have numerous warehouses, cement plants, and major highways. It is my opinion that the truck traffic may be one of the major causes of the increased cancer rates," Gail said.
"I know one family that's lost a daughter and a husband in the last five years from cancers that are unexplainable, and they're right in the line of sight of the smell and the odors that come off of this dump," said one man.
"The health issues— they're talked about, but they have not been proven," said another man.
Paul, another public commenter, shared his support for the expansion, citing his long-term residence and understanding of the landfill operations as someone who has worked in the "garbage business."
"So I get a smell every once in a while. But you know what? I moved there 35 years ago. I knew what I was getting myself into, you know?" Paul said.
Paul also argued that property values have increased, despite the landfill's neighboring presence.
Fors said that the landfill is a major driver of income for the township, and without the expansion, that would dry up in about four years. Some speakers agreed, saying they did not want their taxes to go up.
"That generates about $2.1, $2.2 million a year for Plainfield Township," Fors said.
"I hear people say, 'I'll pay extra in taxes,'" said a woman at the meeting. "Well, that's fine, but what about the single parents that live paycheck to paycheck?"
The township planning commission now has 120 days to review information from Waste Management, hold a public hearing on the expansion proposal, and ultimately make a recommendation to the board of supervisors about whether or not the land should be rezoned to allow the expansion to move forward.
Kenneth Field, chairman of the board of supervisors, cited the $2.2 million annual tax revenue as a main deciding factor that he says is necessary to fund the township.
"We get $2.2 million a year from landfill as part of our package," Field said. "Nobody on that microphone tonight, or at any meeting ever, has said, 'Here's where we can get $2.2 million a year so you can close that landfill.'"
The expansion also needs to be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
