DEP grants initial approval for Elk County landfill expansion

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has approved the environmental assessment portion of an application by Veolia ES Greentree Landfill to expand its municipal waste landfill’s capacity in Fox Township, Elk County.

In approving the first phase of the application, DEP concluded that the known benefits of the project outweigh the known and potential harms. The decision allows the landfill expansion permit application to proceed to the technical review phase, which will examine all of the design details of the project.

Veolia proposes to expand the existing disposal area by an additional 104 acres and increase the overall permit area from 986 acres to 1,148 acres. The new disposal area would be adjacent to the current disposal area.

The application also proposes to increase the total height at which waste can be disposed and covered on portions of the existing disposal area.

Under Veolia’s proposal, the landfill would continue to use the current permit average volume of 5,500 tons/day and maximum volume of 6,000 tons/day. Based on the permit average, the proposed expansion would provide approximately 10 years of additional disposal capacity.

Veolia submitted the permit application on February 20, 2007. The facility has been in operation since 1986.