DEP holds meeting to discuss deficiencies related to freshwater pond adjacent to proposed Synagro biosolids plant - but creates no minutes, and withholds notes taken during meeting. Your tax dollars abused.

At the April 17, 2019 Planning Commission review of Synagro's land development plan, Plainfield Township manager Tom Petrucci inquired about a May 23rd meeting that Syangro had scheduled with DEP to discuss deficiencies DEP has fund with Sedimentation Basin #2, and requested that the township be included in this meeting.  Here is a transcript of the exchange:

Meeting with DEP on site to discuss issues surrounding Sedimentation Basin #2

Everyone will be in the same room... or will they?

Plainfield Township and Pen Argyl were invited to attend, at 11:00AM on May 23rd.They showed up on time, but were kept waiting in a conference room until 11:20, at which time they were allowed to join a meeting in progress since 10:00AM.  Here are two agendas for the same meeting, or more accurately an agenda for the DEP portion of the meeting, without the municipalities present, and an agenda for after the municipalities were allowed to join the meeting.

Two agendas... for one meeting

Note that Plainfield Township is scheduled to show up, after the conversation with DEP of deficiencies with Sedimentation Basin #2 have been discussed

Let's see who was able to attend each portion of this meeting(s):

Two sign in sheets... for one meeting

Representatives of DEP, NorCo Conservation District, Synagro, EarthRes, Waste Management

are at both meetings.  Plainfield Township and Pen Argyl only at the second "meeting"

Note that Phil Gray is the geologist consultant for the township.  He would have had important input to the discussion about the basin - if only he had been invited to the discussion about the basin at 10:00AM.  It is reported that the only thing that happened after 11:20AM were several announcements.  Jason Smith, wetlands consultant for the township summarized the following announcements at the June planning commission review meeting:

• DEP will not be requiring a Chapter 105 permit to paritally fill the pond (Sedimentation Basin #2)
• DEP will be issuing a permit to use the pond for runoff of the Synagro facility (apparently ignoring all the deficiencies in the DEP's letter)
• DEP will not be putting anything in print until a permit is issued, and it can be challenged at that time.

What Mr. Smith did not report, but township environmental attorney Jack Embick did (during the August 12, 2019 DEP hearing), is that Plainfield Township officials were "encouraged" by DEP to approve Synagro's application.  The timing indicates this would have happened during the May 23rd meeting, and done verbally while township officials were present.  Mr. Embick challenged DEP to put this highly inappropriate "encouragement" in writing, which is a lawyer's way of saying "you fucked up big time and we're calling you out."  You can be certain that DEP will not do this, because it is evident that they will put nothing in writing, in addition to it in fact being very inappropriate.  Peter Albanese, Green Knight Treasurer, has stated that "DEP wants more facilities like this one," and it is becoming apparent that DEP wants so badly to issue permits to Synagro for this facility, it will do virtually anything to make it happen - environmental protection be damned.

Roger Bellas in his office, consumed by euphoric crapulence and a dream

of crap bakeries throughout Pennsylvania

Editor's note - See the bottom of the page before leaving to see what you can do to help fight back against this kind of douchebaggery

A Right to Know Request submitted to DEP for notes, minutes, etc that memorialize what took place at the May 23rd "meeting", yielded exactly 1/2 page (generous estimate) of notes of Roger Bellas, Solid Waste Program Manager and the person who issued an opinion that a waiver would be granted so that a Chapter 105 permit would not be required to fill the pond.  Bellas never provided proof that a waiver was properly granted years ago for a similar purpose, but stopped a lawsuit against DEP filed by the township by withdrawing his opinion early this year.  Here are his sketchy notes, apparently of only the scheduled 11:00AM meeting:

The only notes that DEP will release on the May 23rd meeting to discuss

serious deficiencies with Sedimentation Basin #2

(these notes do not discuss the geology of substantive issues at all)

There was this page and an additional blank lined page provided (2 sheets total)

These hen-scratchings do not contain anything pertinent to the deficiencies of Sedimentation Basin #2, other than it has never discharged.  Nothing about its geology, nothing about whether a waiver will be needed.

Mr. Buczynski's meeting memo shows Roger Bellas organized the May 23rd meeting(s)

and the purpose was to discuss technical deficiencies of Sedimentation Basin #2

Here is Mr. Buczynski's meeting reminder.  Take a close look at what is in the red boxes:

If only "the" one meeting actually took place the way this memo describes

The technical deficiencies were discussed from 10:00AM to 11:20AM,

before Plainfield Township and Pen Argyl were allowed to enter the room

Abnormalities in DEP's RTK response

When Mr. Bucynski was asked, "if everyone's personal notes were to be redacted, why were Roger Bellas' notes, or some of them, included in DEP's response?"  Mr. Buczynski agreed this was odd, and later stated "it was an error, these are the two pages that should not have been sent.  We will examine our internal procedures."  Mmm-kay.

Here is another abnormality - 10:00AM comes before 11:00AM.  Mr. Bellas' notes for 11:00AM are at the top of the page, then 10:00AM where the good technical stuff happened is halfway down the page, but blank.  Looks like Mr. Bellas created these "notes" after the meeting(s), and supplied only details that are innocuous and not of substance.  He doesn't jot down that DEP will be issuing a waiver, that a permit will be issued, that the township was encouraged by DEP to approve Synagro's land development plan, that DEP will put nothing in writing until a permit is issued.  He also did not provide jack shit about the 11:00AM meeting.

Is there really no record of what happened at this meeting, other than who attended it?

Think about this - apparently the only record of what transpired at this meeting to discuss technical deficiencies of Sedimentation Basin #2, the most controversial aspect of this proposal, is who was in attendance and what was scheduled to be discussed.  Can it be that no correspondence between DEP employees, or between DEP and the Conservation District (which determined what the deficiencies are) or between DEP and Synagro exists, that reflect Roger Bellas verbal comments and announcements made at this meeting?  It stretches credulity, or if true is a piss poor way to conduct business.  It sounds like DEP came in the door ready to make announcements, with no record.  Not to have a serious discussion of experts of the issues at hand.

This is a crock of shit.  This two meetings in one meeting underhanded skullduggery was orchestrated by Synagro and EarthRes, but DEP participated in the farce and Roger Bellas organized the meeting(s).  Mr. Petrucci requested that Plainfield Township be present and Solicitor Layman requested that Pen Argyl be present, to discuss technical deficiencies of the pond, and Synagro agreed.  All the municipalities were invited to was the outcome of that meeting.  And DEP is withholding anything and everything written that would inform not only Plainfield Township and Pen Argyl of the substantive discussion that occurred at the meeting(s), but the tax paying concerned citizens of the public as well.

Announcing 2019 Golden Turd Award

We now present the 2019 Golden Turd Award... to PA DEP.  Past winners are depicted as well.

One great big, stinking crock of shit

Congratulations, all winners!  You earned it, dookie style

What you can do today to fight back against DEP's refusal to be transparent

Synagro and EarthRes are expected to perform douchebaggery, but DEP should be held to a higher standard.  Comments are being received through Monday August 26th on the NPDES and Air Quality permit applications.  There are talking points published by the Delaware Riverkeeper and Clean Air Council, respectively, to give you an idea of issues the experts see in these two permit applications.  See the right margin of this page for where to email your comments, which must be received by 4pm on Monday.  Ideally, DEP prefers that comments be addressed separately to each permit, but you can send one combined.  Put the permit number in your subject line (shown on the margin).