Landfill gets approval to seek construction grant
By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com
Despite opposition from Rostraver Township officials and residents, Westmoreland County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to allow Westmoreland County Sanitary Landfill to apply for a grant to fund the construction of new equipment.
The move allows the Rostraver Township-based landfill — and its owners, Noble Environmental — to apply for a $1 million grant from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to construct a biogas distribution plant at the landfill’s location off of Tyrol Boulevard.
A biogas plant would allow the landfill to process, scrub and burn methane into the air in the form of a cleaner gas. The resulting gas can also be sold to Peoples Gas and used as natural gas.
While those options may seem environmentally friendly, officials and residents question how the landfill will process refuse that is already highly contaminated and how the company will follow through with promises after a long history of fines and violations by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
“Since November 2016, Noble Environmental has amassed 42 DEP violations,” Rostraver Township Board of Commissioners Chairman John Lorenzo told county commissioners Thursday. “In contrast, the previous landfill owner, Tervita, had accumulated 43 DEP violations in a 15-year period dating back to 2005. That is a 150% increase over a four-year period for Noble Environmental. In 2020 alone, Noble Environmental has had 13 violations out of 20 inspections.”
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