We have a watchdog win to share with you today, friends: As a result of GASP’s legal advocacy work, emissions limits for harmful air pollutants from the Brunner Landfill in New Sewickley Township in Beaver County have been reduced.
This is an initiative our senior attorney John Baillie has been working on for a while now - here’s what you need to know:
This whole thing started in June 2024, when we submitted comments to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regarding a draft Plan Approval for two sources of emissions at the facility: The Enclosed Flare and Leachate Evaporator.
We are pleased to report that following our comments, DEP revised that Plan Approval to reduce limits for the Enclosed Flare’s emissions of carbon monoxide and smog-forming oxides of nitrogen.
But that’s not all: Long-time readers of our blog may recall that Brunner Landfill is one of a handful of major sources of air pollution in Pennsylvania that have never had a Title V Operating Permit issued to them. Indeed, in 2022 GASP sent the landfill’s operator a notice of intent to sue to get it to submit an application for such a permit.
The lack of a Title V Operating Permit has not been the only permitting issue at this facility – the landfill installed the Enclosed Flare and Leachate Evaporator back in 2015 without first applying for a Plan Approval from DEP.
The Enclosed Flare and Leachate Evaporator control both air and water pollution, but the failure to obtain a Plan Approval from DEP beforehand was a violation of Pennsylvania’s Air Pollution Control Act.
A fine and years of wrangling over the contents of the Plan Approval ensued.
The draft Plan Approval that we commented on back in June would have brought that wrangling to an end, but there was a problem with it: As we pointed out in our comments, the draft Plan Approval’s emission limits for the Enclosed Flare were based on Best Available Technology as it existed in 2015 (when the source was installed, illegally) rather than Best Available Technology as it currently exists.
This also would have violated the Air Pollution Control Act, which requires all Plan Approvals to implement Best Available Technology to control air pollution at the time they are issued, not at any earlier time. The revised emission limits in the Plan Approval appear to be based on current Best Available Technology.
“DEP appears to have fixed the problem with the Plan Approval’s emission limits for the Enclosed Flare,” Baillie added. “That should pave the way for this facility to finally get its Title V Operating Permit.”