Do you love a bad smell in the morning? If you work for Chrin Landfill in Williams Township, chances are you do. A familiar rotten-egg odor wafts through south Easton regularly, the byproduct of decomposing scrapple and other garbage. Last year alone, there were seventy DEP inspections, culminating in a $187,500 civil penalty in late December.

Not to worry. The Chrins have an insurance plan to combat pesky state regulators. Campaign contributions. Since 2000, they've contributed more than $250,000 to candidates seeking state office in Pennsylvania. That includes judges, prosecutors, state leaders and governors from both parties. In Northampton County alone, Chrin has lined the pockets of nine different local judges, as well as the District Attorney.

Something smells about that.

In addition to turning south Easton into the rotten egg capital of Pennsylvania, the Chrins now want to ruin what little is left of the LV's rural charm. They've purchased hundreds of acres in Palmer and Tatamy for more of those big box stores, and plan to add a $25 million Route 33 exit, too. Engineers told Tatamy residents that a major highway interchange would ease traffic there. Yeah, and I'm Lady Gaga.

Something smells about that.

Although they originally promised to foot the bill themselves, complacent local officials are now more than willing to help finance it with your tax dollars, using a TIF. And last Thursday, Northampton County Council voted 6 -2 to allow Chrin to apply for a state grant of up to $2 million to complete that interchange. Only Barbara Thierry and Lamont McClure voted against a welfare grant for what is arguably the richest family in Northampton County. Ron Angle abstained.

Things began to really stink just a few minutes later, when council considered a new solid waste management plan, under which the county will receive a $1 per ton tipping fee from 26 different landfills. Amazingly, Chrin has so far refused to sign onto that plan. "Nobody's watching the store," lamented Ron Angle, who had to poke around and ask.

One council member who voted to allow Chrin to apply for a $2 million state grant is Hellertown Republican Tom Dietrich. When running for his seat, he promised the League of Women Voters he'd end "corporate welfare with taxpayers’ dollars and political paybacks, etc." His public Facebook profile pictures him standing proudly next to a "Stop Corporate Welfare" sign. But Tom Dietrich the Councilman has ignored Tom Dietrich the candidate.

Somebody open a window!

Correction: The first line of this article originally asked the question, "Do you love the smell of methane in the morning?" According to Wikipedia, "methane is a colorless, odorless gas."