Crucial Landfill Meeting Set for Thursday

A planning commission meeting that could affect IESI Bethlehem Landfill's ability to expand westward onto 53 acres is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. in Lower Saucon Township.

In advance of the meeting, landfill employees and representatives on Tuesday held a media tour of the facility and nearby areas that could be impacted by the expansion.

IESI District Manager Sam Donato, who oversees the operation of the Lower Saucon facility, stressed during the tour that concerns expressed by township residents who oppose an expansion are misguided.

Some of the concerns that have been outlined at various township meetings include noise, odor and visual impacts from the landfill, which Donato said have been exaggerated.

"It's been stated numerous times that you can see it, you can hear it and you can smell it—and all that is false," he said.

He blamed the misinformation on opponents with "a lack of knowledge...and the fear of landfills."

Donato also said IESI has been responsive to nearby residents.

For example, he said a redesign of the proposed expansion means the "facility...[would be] farther to the south."

"We heard their comments. We took them into consideration," he said.

Most people contribute to the waste stream landfills process, and township residents benefit from the economic contributions made by the business, which include a $2 million annual host fee and property taxes paid to Lower Saucon Township, the Saucon Valley School District and Northampton County, Donato said.

According to statistics provided by IESI following the tour, in the past decade Lower Saucon Township has spent more than $11 million in landfill revenue, including $8.5 million to pay off debt, $1.7 million on fire equipment and $1 million on capital expenses.

"Studies show the estimated economic benefit to be more than $12 million per year as a result of IESI Bethlehem Landfill operating in Lower Saucon Township," said IESI public relations representative Matthew Brannon in an email.

“We have paid a little over $18,000 to Lower Saucon Township for property taxes and almost $217,000 to Saucon Valley School District this year," Donato said.

Northampton County has received $45,000 in property taxes, and the amount of income tax paid to the township so far this year is about $8,500, according to the figures IESI provided.

The landfill currently employees 16 people.

Many of the properties that would be enveloped by the facility's western expansion have already been purchased; several are under agreements of sale, and several more are of interest to IESI, Donato said during the tour, which included stops at the landfill's highest elevation near the intersection of Skyline Drive and Hader Lane, and at the Steel City Hill Climb on the other side of the ridge line from the landfill.

Referencing fears expressed by residents of Steel City that the landfill's expansion would result in a looming mound of trash high above their homes, Donato said emphatically, "that is not true."

According to an explanation from Donato and landfill compliance manager Al Schleyer, although the height of the landfill may be higher south of the ridgeline that forms the southern border of Steel City, the distance between it and the ridgeline will obscure it from view.

He said the expansion, if approved, could increase the landfill's lifespan by 10 to 12 years.

As it nears capacity, it currently has a lifespan of approximately three years.

Donato said that most landfills that close "go into energy recovery" and become areas of open space.

When asked about the possibility of a second expansion in another decade or so, he said IESI is currently focused on its current plan.

Opened in the early 1940s, the landfill facility was owned by the City of Bethlehem for many years.

IESI Bethlehem Landfill has a website that features a petition residents can sign to express their support for the proposed expansion.

A residents group called Saucon Valley Families Opposing Landfill Development also has a website.

Photo: IESI Bethlehem Landfill District Manager Sam Donato shows a photograph of the industries near or neighboring the landfill on Applebutter Road in Lower Saucon Township. Donato stressed during a media tour Tuesday that the landfill is located in the township's only industrial zoning district. Nearby industrial facilities include Bethlehem Renewable Energy, which turns methane gas sold to it by IESI into electricity. An intermodal rail yard and warehouses are also nearby.