EAST ALLEN TWP., Pa. — State officials are seeking residents’ input on a Northampton County cement company’s plan to haul hazardous waste via railcar through the Lehigh Valley.
It’s a change for the industrial facility, which currently transports bulk shipments in tanker trucks via roads and highways.
“Keystone Cement Company is an existing permitted hazardous waste storage facility, located at Routes 329 and 987 [in] Bath, Pa., that specializes in the storage of approved liquid wastes prior to the beneficial use of the liquid waste as a fuel in the site cement kiln,” according to the public hearing notice, published in the PA Bulletin. “The renewal permit will include a hazardous waste fuel mixing system that will be used with the tank farm, rail car unloading and direct fuel transfer system.
“The renewed permit will allow the existing facility to remain in operation for another [10] years.”
The state Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public hearing from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28, at Nitschmann Middle School, 1002 W. Union Blvd. in Bethlehem. The department will take public testimony about Keystone Cement Co.’s hazardous waste permit renewal application. If approved, the permit would allow Keystone to install a new hazardous waste fuels tank farm, railcar loading/unloading facility and mixing system.
More than two dozen residents have already submitted written comments, a DEP spokesperson said.
Officials ask anyone wishing to testify at the hearing to submit a written notice of intent to Colleen Connolly, Community Relations Coordinator, Keystone Cement Company Public Hearing, PA DEP, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701-1915, or by email at coconnolly@pa.gov.Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Officials ask anyone wishing to testify at the hearing to submit a written notice of intent to Colleen Connolly, Community Relations Coordinator, Keystone Cement Company Public Hearing, PA DEP, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701-1915, or by email at coconnolly@pa.gov.
Officials will accept notices up to the day of the hearing.
The permitting process
Permit renewals are a fairly regular process for industrial facilities dealing with hazardous waste, like Keystone, which is owned by Texas-based company Giant Cement Holding Inc. Renewals occur each decade after an initial permit is granted.
Keystone’s current hazardous waste management permit expired in July 2019, according to the draft permit, obtained by LehighValleyNews.com through a request to the state DEP. The DEP received a renewal application the previous August; the application was revised in June of 2020 and December of 2022.
Company officials are currently operating the facility under an administrative extension.
The change from road to rail is a point of contention for the region’s environmental advocates, especially considering the company last year was named one of the commonwealth’s top climate polluters.
There’s also been fines levied against the company for air pollution, as well as an incident in the late 1990s, when a hazardous waste fuel tank overheated and 1,600 nearby residents were temporarily evacuated.
Most recently, there’s been train derailments in March and July in Lower Saucon Township and under the Hill-to-Hill Bridge in South Bethlehem, respectively.
“Switching to rail transport removes approximately four trucks from the roads for every one railcar, reducing road traffic and associated risks,” Stephen P. Holt, vice president of environmental, health and safety for Keystone, said previously. “Additionally, rail transport is statistically safer than road transport by a significant margin.”
Residents were able to submit comments on the draft permit during the summer, when the public comment period ran from June 22 through Aug. 6.
As of the first week of September, the DEP had already received 33 written comments about the permit, Connolly said.
LehighValleyNews.com asked to review those comments, but was denied.
Instead, Connolly said the comments would be available when a response document was created, but “That likely may not happen until after the public hearing.”
