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Description of the Project:

On July 3, 2017, PA Waste, LLC (referred to as “PA Waste”) submitted it’s Phase I application to begin the approval process to obtain a new municipal solid waste landfill permit to construct and operate the municipal waste landfill commonly referred to as the Camp Hope Run Landfill in Boggs Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.  PA Waste is a Bucks County Pennsylvania limited liability company headed by former State Senator Robert Rovner and notably experienced landfill developer/operator Ramsey Dilibero who is also a member of the Environmental Industries Hall of Fame in recognition of his 30 years of service to the waste management and landfill industry.

In its current state of existence, the property, which is proposed to be developed into the Camp Hope Run Landfill, is what is known as a brownfield site, which was clear cut for timber in the early 1980s and again in 2015 and also strip mined for coal by previous owners during the 1990s.  Brownfield sites are properties that are difficult to redevelop because of pollutants and contaminants which are already on a property.     The US Department of Environmental Protection has determined that cleaning up and reinvesting in brownfield  properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.  Unfortunately, acid mine drainage from the strip mining operations conducted by previous owners of the proposed site and from other properties off of the property have impacted the groundwater and surface  water around this property.  The Camp Hope Run Landfill has been designed to collect, treat, mitigate, and eliminate existing acid mine drainage discharges.

The proposed landfill will be located approximately seven miles southeast of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, in Boggs Township, along the west side of State Route 153. The proposed landfill and supporting facilities will be located within an approximate 845-acre facility boundary. The waste disposal limits will encompass approximately 217 lined acres, with support facilities and buffer areas within the remainder of the overall facility.

 

It has been projected that over the 21 year operating life expectancy of the Camp Hope Run Landfill, there will be an economic impact to Boggs Township, Clearfield County, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and surrounding municipalities in the amount of $369,605,000. 

Support  facilities for the Camp Hope Run Landfill will include access roads and gates, a scale house and (surface) scales, an office and maintenance building, a truck parking/staging area, a truck tire wash station, a soil stockpile, a leachate collection and conveyance system, a landfill gas collection/control system, and erosion/sediment controls features. The majority of the remaining facility area will be comprised of undisturbed, wooded and/or vegetated buffers. The proposed Camp Hope Run Landfill will accept municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, and select residual and special waste streams. The proposed landfill will be designed, constructed, and operated consistent with  the requirements of Pennsylvania Municipal Waste Regulations and Boggs Township Ordinances. Development of this landfill will also provide economic, social, and environmental benefits for the local and regional communities and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In particular, the landfill will incorporate design features to eliminate and reduce acid mine drainage associated with the site, and provide substantial economic benefits to the local and regional residents and economy.

Improvement to Existing Environmental Conditions

The landfill property is currently a brownfield site in that previous owners of the property had clear cut the site for timber in the early 1980’s and then subsequently (surface) strip mined the area for coal during the 1990’s. A strip mining area from earlier years is located in the northern portion of the property. Acid mine drainage (AMD) seeps have developed from the strip mining that was conducted on the proposed landfill site which is now impacting the groundwater and surface water in the vicinity of the site.

Extensively strip mined areas are also located on an adjoining property, to the east and south across State Route 153. These adjacent mined areas are producing AMD, which is also affecting the surface and groundwater associated with the proposed landfill property. Both Camp Hope Run to the North and Sanbourn Run to the South, which border the site, are degraded by AMD from the strip mine sites to the east. The proposed Camp Hope Run Landfill has been located and designed to mitigate existing AMD problems at the site. These design features include reuse of previously mined areas, elimination of AMD discharges, and collection and treatment of AMD affected groundwater. These design features will help improve groundwater quality at the site, and surface water quality in Camp Hope Run, Sanbourn Run, and ultimately Clearfield Creek and the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

Access Route and Traffic Study


The proposed landfill will use an existing entrance to the property from State Route 153 to access the facility. The main access route to the site is from I-80; Exit 120 near Clearfield, Pennsylvania, south on State Route 879, to State Route 153, approximately seven miles to the site entrance. A truck parking/staging area will be provided at the entrance to the facility. This parking/staging area will allow trucks arriving at the facility outside of operational hours to park well away from the public roads and adjacent properties. Truck scales will be provided at the facility entrance. A truck tire wash is also  planned to remove mud from truck wheels and undercarriage prior to exiting the site. A professional traffic impact study was performed at the request of PennDOT  for the proposed access route to the site. This Traffic Impact Study  addressed all of the anticipated truck traffic to the site and demonstrated that with some improvements to the site and traffic signals on the way to the site, some of which have already been implemented,  the designated access route easily manages the maximum anticipated landfill-related truck traffic with minimal impact upon current roadway conditions.

General Development and Construction

The proposed landfill will contain about 217 acres of lined waste disposal area. The disposal area will be partially situated within a reclaimed, previously surface coal mined area. The previously mined areas will be used as part of the landfill waste disposal area as well as support areas for the landfill. Based on groundwater and surface water monitoring, these previously mined areas are creating surface and groundwater degradation as a result of the acidic overburden rock. Select overburden material from the mined areas will be excavated and used in the lined areas of the landfill for daily and intermediate cover material. The excavation in the previously mined areas will not extend below the (mined) coal seam elevation but will remove acid-producing materials and collect and control the existing degraded groundwater. Placement of the potentially acid-producing material in the lined areas of the landfill as a “waste” and not a cover material will prevent future degradation of groundwater and surface water. Soil and rock material that has no potential for acid formation will be placed in on-site stockpiles, used in cell construction or will be used in landfill operations.

The proposed disposal area will be constructed with a double-composite (geosynthetic) liner system. The liner system will be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to meet or exceed requirements of Pennsylvania Municipal Waste Regulations and will consist of, from top to bottom: a protective cover/leachate collection zone with piping; a geotextile cushion; a 60-mil thick textured high density polyethylene (HDPE) primary geomembrane, a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL), a geocomposite drainage layer/leachate detection zone with piping, a 60-mil thick textured HDPE secondary geomembrane, and a prepared, low-permeability soil subbase.

Leachate generated in the waste disposal area will be collected by a leachate collection piping network located on top of the liner system within the lined areas and pumped up from the landfill floor to the landfill perimeter. From the landfill perimeter, leachate will be conveyed by gravity and pumping to a series of manholes and a piping network that extends around the disposal area perimeter. Collected leachate will be temporarily stored in enclosed, above-ground tanks and pumped to an on-site industrial wastewater treatment plant (IWTP) for leachate treatment.

The proposed disposal area will be closed incrementally with a geosynthetic and soil cover system. The cover system will consist of a final vegetated soil, overlying a synthetic liner cover and barrier drainage system. The cover system will be designed to meet or exceed the performance standards and design requirements specified in the Pennsylvania Municipal Waste Management Regulations.

The proposed landfill design includes a landfill gas (LFG) management system consisting of a gas migration monitoring network and a gas collection and control system. The gas migration monitoring network will consist of LFG probes. The gas migration monitoring system will be installed and monitoring will begin prior to, or in conjunction with the start of landfill operations in the various phases of site development. The system will include gas monitoring probes around the landfill perimeter and/or at select locations around the facility/property. On-site buildings (structures) will be regularly monitored for the presence of methane.

The gas collection and control system will consist of gas extraction wells, collection conveyance piping network, condensate collection network, gas moving system (blower), and a gas combustion unit (enclosed ground flare) or equivalent means of destruction. Both the gas migration and monitoring system and the gas collection and control system will be constructed incrementally, in phases, throughout the sequence of landfill development. Collected LFG will be directed into an enclosed ground flare where it will be destroyed by combustion at high temperatures. Moisture that condenses from the LFG, known as condensate, will be removed and drained back into the landfill or into the leachate management system for subsequent treatment.

Permanent and temporary erosion and sediment control measures will be developed incrementally throughout the life of the facility consistent with the Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control (SE/SC) Plan. Storm water runoff will be collected by temporary and/or permanent channels and diversion berms within and around the landfill, borrow area, and stockpiles. From these conveyances, storm water will be routed to sedimentation basins. Various temporary structural measures including silt-fencing, check dams, silt traps, and turf reinforcement mats will be used to manage storm water throughout the site’s development. In addition to structural measures, non-structural measures such as vegetating disturbed areas and minimizing disturbed areas will be used to manage storm water.

Operations Data and Capacity

Waste Acceptance Rates: The anticipated maximum and average daily waste acceptance rates are:

Maximum Daily/Average Daily Weight: 5,000 tons
Under normal operating conditions the site proposes to receive waste and be open to the public during the following times:

  • 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday
  • 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday
  • Closed Sunday

However, the Site may operate 24 hours per day, 7 days a week to include waste disposal support activities, construction, maintenance, monitoring, operation of landfill environmental management and control systems, and other associated support activities. Operations of the landfill over these extended hours results in a reduction of truck traffic density which enhances traffic safety. Saturday hours provides waste disposal access and convenience for local residents and businesses.

 

Capacity: Approximate landfill capacities are as follows:

  • Gross Capacity: 37.6 Million Cubic yards
  • Net Capacity: 36.2 Million Cubic Yards

Lifetime: The estimated Landfill lifetime assuming a long term waste density of 0.75 tons/CY, 5.5 operating days per week, and a waste acceptance rate starting at 1,000 tons per day and increasing by 1,000 tons per day each year until the waste acceptance rate is 5,000 tons per day, is approximately 21 years.

Links to Filed DEP Application

Camp Hope Cover Letter to DEP 6-30-17 (PDF)
General Information Form 6-2017 (PDF)

Phase I of the Waste Management Application (July 2017)

Phase II of the Waste Management Application (March 2018)

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