New Milford Township had already scheduled a special meeting for March 29th to review recent changes to its nascent clean-air ordinance. But when a blizzard made its regular meeting date on the 15th untenable, the township moved it to the 29th also. So the 29th promised a two-fer event. And both meetings together took less than an hour.
Township solicitor Michael Briechle was delayed arriving for the special session on the ordinance, scheduled for 6:30pm; it hardly mattered, since the small crowd was really only there to congratulate the township on its achievement. Stacks of the latest version of the ordinance were available, as were compilations of testimony and commentary on the first version offered at a hearing on January 12th. Mr. Briechle said that some of the suggestions of the public at the hearing were incorporated into this latest version that he recommended the Supervisors adopt at the following session.
The ordinance, given the township number 32917, attempts to regulate “waste incinerators within the township; setting air emission limits; imposing human health risk assessment requirements; and requiring continuous emissions monitoring under which waste incineration may be permitted.” The measure has been dubbed a “clean-air” ordinance, although it is specifically targeted only at waste incineration facilities. The effort to create it was occasioned by the proposal of a developer known as Tyler Corners LLP to construct an “industrial waste incinerator” on a property off Interstate 81 exit 219 (Gibson). The developer has since withdrawn its application to the state Department of Environmental Protection, so the project is effectively off the table, at least for the foreseeable future.
Local residents and activists were jubilant, demonstrating their excitement with loud applause several times during the evening. Eliott Ross, a Supervisor in Herrick Township and one of the founders of the Susquehanna Clean Air Network (SCAN), thanked the New Milford Township Supervisors and their legal team for their accomplishment. SCAN was created in response to the perceived threat posed by the proposed incinerator and was the source of much of the commentary at the January hearing.
Mr. Briechle had Jessica Thompson of Eckert Seamans available on a cell phone to help answer any questions. Eckert Seamans is a law firm based in Harrisburg that the township hired to assist Mr. Briechle in drafting the ordinance. Ms. Thompson said that monitoring regulations in the ordinance follow guidelines published in a 100-page document of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that she described as “very comprehensive.” Asked what might happen if the work of the EPA is significantly affected by the new administration in Washington, she said that she considered highly unlikely any changes to the “well established” regulations related to this ordinance. In any event, she and Mr. Briechle agreed that the ordinance could be subsequently amended to incorporate the EPA document directly if necessary.
Mr. Briechle acknowledged that development of the ordinance – which took nearly 9 months altogether – was expensive, calling it a “significant investment.” (Township Secretary Julene Graham estimated that the effort had cost the township nearly $30,000. One of the Supervisors said, “We will take donations.”) Yet Mr. Briechle said that he was “unaware of anything of this stature” being enacted elsewhere, that New Milford Township had become “a leader” in legislating regulation of this sort at the local level. In response to a question, he said that he had had no recent communication with either county officials or the state DEP on the matter.
Final adoption of the ordinance was greeted with wild applause from the assembled multitude, and constituted the major action item on the Township’s March agenda. Aside from notices of permits awarded for pipeline construction and water extraction for the gas industry, Pentagon Gas announced its intention to build a compressed natural gas facility on Route 492.
Supervisor Don Shibley also read parts of a letter to municipal officials from DEP regarding a meeting about a proposed “transfer station” (on a site near the county jail) to be held on April 5, 2017 at 1:00pm at the Bridgewater Township offices on Route 29 south of Montrose. It wasn’t clear whether the meeting would be open to the public. (“Transfer station” usually refers to a facility allowing transfer of trash or other waste from one transportation mode to another.)
The Township’s Emergency Management Coordinator reported that a traffic light is to be installed on Route 492 during repairs of a subsidence on that road.
With business concluded, Mr. Shibley moved to pay the Township’s bills and adjourn.
At the conclusion of the meeting(s), members of SCAN distributed a “press release” congratulating the New Milford Township Supervisors for adopting the clean-air ordinance. The statement urges the County Commissioners “to step up and adopt a Countywide Clean Air Ordinance.”
The New Milford Township Supervisors are scheduled to meet next on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, beginning at 7:30pm at the Township office on U.S. Route 11.