DEP deadline for Synagro to submit status report on Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center key deficiencies approaches, with zero progress

On September 19, 2019, Synagro withdrew its Land Development Plan for a crap bakery in Plainfield Township, as the Board of Supervisors considered a motion by its chairman to deny the plan.  There were several deficiencies remaining in the plan - two notable ones were the Nuisance Mitigation Control Plan was not complete, and Synagro had not submitted an Environmental Impact Study.

Once the application was withdrawn, all work in the project by the township and its consultants ceased since there is no pending application before either the Planning Commission or board of supervisors.

On October 7, 2019, Synagro submitted letters to the DEP, requesting that the various permit applications under review by the DEP be "suspended".  The letters further indicated that Synagro had met many of the township's requirements, and that only a few deficiencies remained.  Synagro's representative implied in the letters that Synagro would work with the township to resolve the remaining deficiencies, and it requested a year to work things out.

Synagro letter to DEP North... on Scribd

Synagro letter to DEP Centr... on Scribd

As reported on this blog, all mention of the Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center was scrubbed from Synagro's website within only a few weeks of the letters to DEP requesting that their applications be suspended - rather suspicious considering DEP was led to believe the project is still being pursued, and only some i's need to be dotted and t's crossed.

The DEP appears unwilling to wait a year.  On December 20, 2019, DEP responded to Synagro's request by setting a date of March 31, 2020 for a status update of Synagro's progress in resolving its deficiencies... in a non-existent application before the township.  Township Manager Petrucci remarked in October that without a Site Plan or Land Development Plan pending, he did not see how the activities described in Synagro's October 7, 2019 letters could proceed.

Letter from DEP to Synagro,... on Scribd

As of today's date, the township has not received a new application from Synagro, and has not received any contact regarding Synagro's withdrawn application - including the work on deficiencies suggested would be pursued in the October 7, 2019 letters.  The deadline for submissions for the Planning Commission's February meeting was last Friday, so  nothing could conceivably be considered by the township until the March 16 meeting - only two weeks prior to the deadline.

A DEP representative stated recently that the March 31 deadline was set so that Synagro's DEP permit applications would not "sit on the books" for an extended period of time.  The permit applications are currently in limbo, until the March 31 deadline, at which time it will be determined to suspend them, or reject them.  The writing appears to be on the wall... there is no longer a project status page on their website, there is no application pending on which to base a resolution of deficiencies.  There will be nothing to report on March 31.

Rural homeowners in Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe and Schuylkill counties dodge the biosolids fertilizer bullet, for now. Synagro scrubs website of references to proposed Plainfield Township crap factory

In the past week, all mention of the ill conceived "Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center" that Synagro proposed to be placed on land leased from Waste Management in Plainfield Township, has been removed from Synagro's website.  Previously, the project showed up on the "Locations" map, which shows all the Synagro locations.  Here is what the map looks like today:

Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center no longer shown

on Synagro's map of shitpiles across America

The SBHRC was announced in a press release in late November 2016, which was also on Synagro's website.  Here is the pertinent section of archived press releases in chronological order today:

The "Big News" that Synagro was opening a plant in Plainfield Township used to

be between the top two entries in this list

Prior to last week, there was a page devoted to all the shitty details about this project.  This page is now absent.  Prior to its removal, it looked like this:

Synagro hype referred to Green Knights

as an "economic development" organization

Synagro makes it appear like this is wonderful for the community, and that an economic development organization is partnering with them.  In reality, Green Knights is just a part of Waste Management.  It was first revealed by Green Knights president Carlton Snyder that "contractual obligations" were factored into Green Knight agreeing to sell its waste energy to Synagro.  In other words, they did no have a choice.  It was later revealed that Green Knight would not even be selling "its" waste heat to Synagro, but rather Waste Management would, in what Synagro project manager Jim Hecht called a "complicated" arrangement.  Green Knights buys its landfill gas from Waste Management to burn to create electricity, but Waste Management "owns" the waste heat that is a byproduct of burning the gas.  Sweet!  Waste Management would have tossed "up to a maximum of $100,000" to Green Knights annually, and raked in potentially a few million a year from the waste heat going up Green Knights' stacks.  Synagro would also have raked in millions, and supported 12 to 16 low quality jobs shoving shit around a building.  "Economic development" this was not.

Another revelation during review of this proposal was that although Synagro advertised that its product may be used as a fertilizer or a fuel, it would likely never be used as a fuel.  Biosolids expert Trudy Johnston, a member of the Mid Atlantic Biosolids Association, hired by both Pen Argyl and Plainfield Township, stated that in her opinion biosolids will never be used as a fuel in the state of Pennsylvania.  There is only one plant in the entire US that burns biosolids as a fuel.

What this means is that Synagro's product, these unwanted crap pellets, would have ended up on a farm near you.  100 tons a day, distributed all over the Lehigh Valley and across the mountain in Monroe and Schuylkill counties.  Synagro makes its money on the front end, to haul the crap (no pun intended) away from sewage treatment plants.  If they could dump it somewhere, they would be rolling in it.  They have to pay to dry it first, to convert it from Class B to Class A, which does little to nothing to reduce or eliminate the toxins in it.  It was learned in November 2018 that 352 known pollutants are in biosolids, 60 that are hazardous, with no known metrics for how much of any of these pollutants is too much.  This stuff contains PFAS and PFOS, and the state of Pennsylvania and others are struggling currently with how to regulate these.

Is Synagro really not planning to pursue this project?  Why would they give up?  We'll take a look at that in the next post, and we will compare the arc of Synagro's proposal in Plainfield Township to that of Nestle Waters' failed attempt to take hundreds of thousands of gallons a water a day out of Eldred Township - the project that launched this blog.  There are multiple similarities.  For now, people across the Slate Belt as well as neighbors to the west and north can breathe a tentative sign of relief.  Nestle moved on to Centre County, where they were quickly ejected by the community.  What will Synagro do next?

Synagro and Waste Management withdraw Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center land development plan after board motion is made to deny it

At last night's Board of Supervisors meeting, Synagro's program manager Jim Hecht, Counsel Mike Brennan and Counsel Elizabeth Witmer spent a half hour mealy mouthing the supervisors, as they attempted to explain why they should be granted an 18-month extension and the board should take no further action on this evening.

Let's rewind - on September 9, Synagro refused to allow an extension of the deadline that was September 30, 2019, so the planning commission had to vote on a recommendation to the board.  They voted 4-0 to recommend rejection of the plan.  Synagro was asked by the planners to grant a 90-day extension, but Synagri claimed they could not do this without consulting Synagro management.

On Tuesday, September 17, Synagro reportedly contacted Plainfield Township, and offered an 18-month extension of the plan.

Solicitor Backenstoe explained that the board had only two options at Thursday's meeting, to accept Synagro's extension/negotiate a shorter version (eg 6 months, etc), or deny the plan.  Accepting the plan with conditions was not possible because the planning commission and Synagro had not reached mutually acceptable conditions.

Then Synagro started its song and dance, claiming that it was blindsided by the planning commission on September 9 when it required at least a 90 day extension in order to work on major deficiencies.  Jim Hecht claimed he did not have authorization to make longer than a 60-day extension.  Mr. Hecht suggested that board Chairman Heard poll the township's experts to see how many line items had been resolved over the course of the reviews, suggesting that if it was a high number that Synagro should be granted additional time to address remaining items.  Mr. Heard did not fall for this trick, and we'll see where this ends up below.

In typical Jim Hecht self-contradictory form, he stated that he felt Synagro could resolve remaining issues in 1 month (there is no way in hell this could be done), but was requesting 18 months.  Yeah - this makes sense.  All that could happen in one month is a slim chance that DEP will issue a permit that Synagro and Waste Management could weaponize against the township.  DEP hasn't issued a response to the public comments made at the November 2018 hearing, but it does feel like they may be on the brink of something.

Chairman Heard asked Mr. Hecht point blank "will you agree to do an environmental impact statement?" which he never got an answer to, again in typical Jim Hecht form.  The best he received was a mealy-mouthed "Well, that is something we are willing to look at."  Not "Yes, that is why we need 18 months," but rather "we're willing to take a look and we think we can be ready in a month..."  An EIS would take several months.

Synagro made its bed by ignoring the most significant deficiencies in its application

It caught up to them on September 19

After speaking in circles with Mr. Hecht, Counsel Brennan took over, mealy mouthing his way through an argument that Synagro has worked with the planning commission, blah blah blah, and we thought we had addressed the major outstanding issues (two variances, a SALDO issue, and lack of an EIS).  "We submitted an Environmental Package and a Hydrogeological Package."  It is true that Synagro submitted collections of pages with those titles, but they did not contain an EIS or a hydrogeological study.  This was just more scraped from the walls of a crock of shit.

At this point, Robert Lynn, engineer for the township requested the microphone, and addressed Mr. Hecht's line item survey challenge.  Mr. Lynn pointed out that while several individual line items have been addressed, many remain in addition to the ones that Synagro has not addressed (the EIS, variances, and SALDO).  Mr. Lynn pointed out that of the sticking points, there has been little progress for months.

Chairman Heard questioned Synagro about why it had not gone to the Zoning Hearing Board for variances.  The mealy mouthed reply he received was that Synagro wanted to resolve its violations (which it has steadfastly denied exist) through design changes.  This is just nonsense.  If Synagro has picked up the phone and asked the Zoning Officer, he would have told them at each step that they have resolved either variance.  Mr. Heard stated that in 12 years he has never seen an applicant not go and get variances.  This resulted in Mr. Hecht mumbling that he was just now realizing that Synagro might have to go the Zoning Hearing Board.  He didn't state that they would (they could/should have submitted an application in the intervening time since September 9, if they were acting in good faith - which they are not).  Mr. Heard added that while this is a permitted use, he sees this proposal as very negative for development the Slate Belt - people want Starbucks, not sludge plants and trucks hauling odorus waste through town.

Counsel Witmer said something at some point that was of no consequence.  It was not as daft as usual for her, but there is a saying about fool me once, fool me twice.  It is doubtful many listened to what she said.  Basically she held to the "we don't believe these variances or EIS are required, but hey we tried to work things out (our way, not yours)" storyline.

At this point, board member Jane Mellert spoke.  She stated that she had been to all the review meetings.  She itemized that there had been nine 30-day extensions and two 60-day extensions since the reviews began.  Now Synagro is here suddenly asking for an 18-month extension, and you never went for your variances. (Mr. Heard also made these points).  You came into the September 9 planning meeting unprepared to agree to a reasonable extension to address major issues - why is that?  It was obvious where the vote was headed after Mr. Heard and Ms. Mellert had spoken.

Mr. Heard again spoke, and made clear that an EIS would help the township assess the impacts the project will have on the community, including neighbors.  The landfill has been an issue, and now you are going to add another potentially problematic business on the same site - this merits a study.

Mr. Heard made a motion to reject the application.  Before there was a second, Mr. Brennan's hand shot up and he yelled out "can we have a 5-minute break?"  The audience groaned, there was some confusion, and eventually Solicitor Backenstoe explained that the either the board should follow through with a second and then discussion and possibly take a break, or Mr. Heard retract his motion and a break be taken per Synagro's request.  Mr. Heard retracted his motion as a courtesy, and Synagro and Waste Management huddled in conversation.  At the end of the break, it was announced that Synagro and Waste Management were withdrawing their application.  Note that the Applicant technically is Grand Central (Waste Management) and the Operator is Synagro.  Also note that if Mr. Heard had not retracted his motion, after it was seconded - which it likely would have been by Ms. Mellert - the application could have been withdrawn then, prior to a vote.

Pardon the interruption

This caught many by surprise, but the lawyers in the room suspected it.  For the township, it will save the expense of defending an appeal in court - pocket change for the Applicant but several tens of thousands of dollars potentially for the township. While a rejection could be appealed, withdrawing avoids the bad press of a rejection.  Let's face it, Synagro doesn't need any more bad press.  As Mr. Backenstoe pointed out, Synagro and Waste Management could turn around and file a new application tomorrow, starting the entire process over again.  Mr. Hecht was seen looking annoyed as he shoved some items into his carrying bag - but he had no one to be upset with except himself.

It is unknown what will happen to the four DEP permit applications.  It is hard to understand how they can work on permits for a project that does not exist, but this is the DEP and they appear to "want" this kind of project.

Courtesy of the floor

Tracy Carluccio pointed out that Synagro is gaming the system, by pulling its application and being able to file another one.  It is causing the township a great expense.  She said the Riverkeeper Network will remain committed to protecting groundwater and the high quality creeks that the basin feeds with the groundwater.  If this proposal comes back, the RiverKeeper Network will be too.

Howard Klein pointed out that Synagro was not able to get a simple additional 30-day time extension on September 9 supposedly because they could not contact management, but on this evening within 5 minutes they received approval to withdrawal their application.  Mr. Klein stated that the board must be sure that the township is in attendance at all DEP meetings, and he had heard that they were excluded from an important one on May 23, 2019.  The Municipalities Planning Code must be changed so companies with very deep pockets like Synagro and Waste Management can't bleed towns dry of cash by dragging out applications; if Synagro/Waste Management want to file a new application, they should reimburse the township for the $200,000 it spent defending itself against this plan.

Don Moore pointed out the details of what happened on May 23, and displayed two agendas for back to back meetings that Tom Pullar of Synagro's engineer EarthRes had crafted with Roger Bellas of the DEP, that excluded the township from a discussion of deficiencies of sedimentation basin #2.  Mr. Pullar had previously told the township that they would be participating in this meeting.  Mr. Pullar stared at the floor as Mr. Moore pointed out the deception that had taken place.  Mr. Moore also stated that this project is not economic development - real economic development would be for Waste Management to return the township's trail when the landfill closes, which would allow the township trail to travel through Grand Central Woods and connect with Wind Gap and Pen Argyl.  Trails - especially through trails - are known to increase adjacent property values.

Elisa Robles presented the board with a petition signed by over 1000 citizens, objecting to the project.

Tom Carlo pointed out that this project was said to be all Green Knights and Synagro when it began, and no questions could be asked of Waste Management.  It has become clear that Waste Management is the Applicant and more questions should be asked of Waste Management if this project returns.  Sludge is not safe for application to land - it contains 350+ known pollutants, 60+ hazardous.

Sheri Acevedo of Northampton County Parks encouraged the township to be vigilant and uphold its ordinances, including requiring an EIS for a project with such potential impacts.  The township also must not let applicants file new materials a few days before meetings - if there is a 21-day rule it must be enforced uniformly.

Rachel Rosenfeld of the Sierra Club congratulated the township on the recent passage of its Appalachian Trail Ordinance, which implements various protections of the Appalachian Trail corridor and throughout the township.  Ms. Rosenfeld stated that the Sierra Club seeks to assist communities in protecting its citizens from degraded natural resources, especially high quality waters - as are present at the proposed Synagro site.

David Flyte reminded everyone that Synagro/Waste Management owes at least $21,000 in land development review fees.

Several speakers thanked the planning commission members for the outstanding effort they put into reviewing Synagro's application, over the course of 2 years and 10 months in total.

Synagro and Waste Management will be back with another try at this - they are way too greedy to let this opportunity go, no matter how insane their proposal is.

Resident calls out DEP for irregularities in Synagro biosolids bakery permit review process for Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center in Plainfield Township

The meaning of the phrase "the fix is in" is pretty widely known.  It implies that the process has been corrupted such that the outcome will not biased away from the criteria that should be evaluated.  The outcome may be consistent with an unbiased evaluation, or more commonly it will be the opposite, and shock the conscience.

In the case of this biosolids plant, which will process 400 tons of crap a day, to be distributed to a farm next to you as fertilizer, some may say "This biosolids plant will be approved.  These are big companies, they will get what they want."  It is true that big companies have big money, and have lobbyists working overtime attempting to curry favor with politicians.  But lacking a change in law, weakening even further Pennsylvanians' ability to enjoy a healthy environment, at the end of the day the courts must uphold the law.  The passionate observer must stand up for him or herself, and get involved in the fight.  That is what this blog is all about - justice for citizens.  Active participants and voices in the fight against this proposed plant are the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Clean Air Council and the Sierra Club.

Several warning signs have appeared in the case of this crap factory that indicate the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection may be biased in favor of approving it.  The letter below, written by a citizen, identifies these warning signs to Joe Buczynski, the Assistant Director of the Northeast Regional Office in Wilkes-Barre.  This office is reviewing three of Synagro's permint applications, the fourth is being reviewed in Harrisburg since it is a general permit that will allow plants like this to be spread across the state, and to sell their product as a fuel.

Here are the warning signs the letter writer cites:

• DEP is intentionally not putting in writing decisions it has made
• DEP is intentionally not putting in writing a record of negotiating a lengthy list of deficiencies
• DEP participated in excluding Plainfield Township and Pen Argyl from attending a critical meeting they were told they could participate in to discuss significant deficiencies of Sedimentation Basin #2, a pond located next to the proposed plant
• DEP is acting consistent with a bias towards spreading similar plants across the state, leaving the protection of the water and air in this community and on this site is a lower priority
• DEP is acting like Synagro in placing a priority on the goal, without regard for how it reaches that goal
• DEP and Synagro have made statements that seem to indicate DEP has already decided to issue permits once local approval is granted, and Synagro has stated an intent to use a DEP permit to pre-empt local ordinances

The letter writer also expresses a fear that DEP may be participating in or accommodating "state pressure" to approve this project - outside pressure - which may have resulted in one or more of the behaviors in this list.  You have the power to fight back against such biases, but it takes your participation - which you are guaranteed as a right as a citizen.  Asses in the seats send a message as much as those who speak.

The Plainfield Township Board of Supervisors will meet to vote on this proposal on Thursday, September 19, at the Fire Hall Banquet facility on Sullivan Trail, beginning at 7pm.  The planning commission voted unanimously to recommend rejection by the Board.  If you care about your property and health, or that of your neighbors, northeastern PA citizens and future generations, you are encouraged to attend and participate either as an observer, or speaker at courtesy of the floor.  Speakers will have 5 minutes to make their voice heard.

Letter to DEP regarding irr... on Scribd

The first six people on the sign-in sheet at 11:00AM are officials and consultants for Plainfield Township and Pen Argyl, who were let in the room at 11:20AM.  Most all of people who attended beginning at 10:00AM then signed again - an odd exercise.

DEP Sign in Sheet for Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center Meetings on May 23, 2019 on Scribd

Signs that Waste Management controls the waste energy of non-profit Green Knights Economic Development Corporation

Who owns the waste heat going up Green Knights' stacks?

On April 5, 2017, a dog and pony show was held at the Plainfield Township Fire Company Banquet Hall, and representatives of Synagro took questions from the audience.  However, neither Waste Management nor Green Knight were on the panel that answered questions.

After the meeting, Green Knights President Carlton Snyder informally addressed some questions by audience members.  He stated:

• This was not our idea - we were approached by either Synagro or Waste Management
• We looked at three criteria in choosing this project, one of which was contractual obligations

Synagro was asked how they got involved, and they stated that they were approached by Waste Management.  Together with Mr. Snyder's statement, the project was envisioned by Waste Management, who likely discussed it with DEP, and then approached Synagro.  Green Knights was brought in at the end.  It is logical that if it was Waste Management's idea, the potential of making insignificant income was present.

In 2018, it was learned from Green Knights' treasurer Peter Albanese that Green Knights will receive up to $100,000 a year by selling the waste heat used by Synagro.  The assumption that Green Knight is selling its waste energy to Synagro appears to be false; Synagro's project manager Jim Hecht has stated that Green Knights has "an arrangement with Waste Management" for remuneration for its waste heat (July 2019).

On August 9, Mr. Hecht was asked whom Synagro is paying for its waste heat, and he stuttered "It's c... complicated," implying that Waste Management is involved.

Why would this be?  Green Knights is a non-profit and should be an independent organization.  It converts the landfill gas it receives to electricity and in the process waste heat is generated and sent up the stacks of its generators.

We found earlier that Waste Management and Synagro could both earn millions of dollars a year off of this project, while Green Knights sucks out $100,000 maximum of exhaust fumes.  This analysis assumed that Waste Management would makes its income from a lease fee for its property - it could charge virtually any price it chooses.  The assumption this is Waste Managements' only source of income from Synagro appears to be incorrect.

It is a very simple matter to estimate what the worth of Green Knights' waste heat is to Synagro, to replace the heat from burning natural gas.  Krüger is a manufacturer of a belt dryer for biosolids, which performs the same function as the one Synagro proposes.  Krüger has published a chart that shows the energy needed to reduce biosolids of various water content to 90% dry - the same as proposed.  This analysis is at the link above, and repeated here:

Synagro has stated that the water content of its biosolids is 21% - the highlighted row.  Looking at that row, 9523.6 pounds of wet biosolids requires 11003492 BTU of energy.  There are 1000 BTU per cu ft of natural gas, so it will take 11003.5 cu ft to dry 9523.8 pounds of "cake"- Synagro's class B raw product.  This is 4.76 tons of product.

In August 2018, natural gas in PA was an average of $9.38 per thousand cu ft, so the cost to dry this amount of product is $9.38 * 11003.5/1000 = $103.21.  To obtain the cost per ton to dry wet cake, we calculate $103.21/4.76 = $21.67.

Synagro will process 400 tons a day maximum, and using 100% natural gas we obtain 400 * 21.67 = $8670 per day as the cost of fuel.  Per year, this is $3,164,422.

Synagro has stated that Green Knights can not provide more than 84% of its energy needs (showing the project isn't as green as suggested), and that they plan to run on 84% waste energy and 16% natural gas.  The 84% of heat energy that is supplied by Green Knight is equivalent to 0.84 * 3,164,422, or $2,658,114 worth of natural gas per per year.

This must be where Waste Management sticks its greedy hand in the pot and makes a heck of a lot of money.  Green Knight is receiving $100,000 per year, saving Synagro $2,558.114.  Mr. Hecht has implied that Green Knight will receive its $100,000 from Waste Management, not Synagro.  This begs the question, how much per year will Waste Management receive from Synagro, for Green Knights' waste heat?  It would obviously be far better for the community, and more like the "economic development" touted, if Green Knight were receiving say, 50 cents on the dollar, or roughly $1.6 million per year.

Another question is, is there some "contractual obligation" of Green Knights in Mr. Snyder's words, in which they don't control or have ownership of their own waste heat?  It certainly seems like they have little or no independence from Waste Management.

Plainfield Township planners vote to recommend rejection of Synagro land development plan application - Synagro refuses to grant time extension to resolve remaining issues

At 10:05pm last evening, September 9, the planning commission voted unanimously 4-0 to recommend rejection of Synagro's land development plan for a biosolids (aka crap) bakery on lands of Waste Management.

As could be predicted by everyone in the room except representatives Pam Racey and Jim Hecht of Synagro, there were multiple unresolved issues as the 10pm hour approached.  Recall that Synagro submitted a thick package (roughly 5" thick by the looks of the clumps in front of each planner and consultant) on August 30, four business days before the meeting date. Pam Racey stated that she thought any unresolved items at this end of this meeting could have been handled as "conditions", and the planners should be able to vote for conditional approval.  The problem is, there were multiple significant issues unresolved, which anyone except an idiot would know going into the meeting would be the case.  Either Ms. Racey and Hecht are idiots, or they just does not care.  This observer believes it is the latter.  Why wouldn't they care?  The suggested answer is, Synagro knows it is heading to court, one way or the other.  So they really don't care - they are stringing the township along and trying to game the system by coordinating with DEP as it reviews Synagro's permit applications.  Many on the township's side have been hoping for almost a year that this process could be started, and after tonight's meeting and vote, everyone is finally on the way.  While Synagro legal counsel Elizabeth Witmer was present, she was not involved in the decision making as the clock wound down to the witching hour.

Oddly this is the first meeting where Waste Management did not pay a stenographer to record the meeting.  Could it be they did not want the best record of what transpired at the most important meeting of all?  Plainfield Township's secretary appeared to take detailed notes, so there will be a good record.

Let's review your issues

The first hour of the meeting was spent with Tom Petrucci reading his memorandum to planners, dated September 6.  Synagro had a chance to respond, and of course tried to explain away most all of the deficiencies that Petrucci enumerated.  Again, Racey stated that she felt these could be handled as "conditions" of approval.  Don't resolve them, but say that you will fix them later... so you can tell DEP you got approval.  Note that Synagro submitted its own list of suggested conditions, which planners essentially ignored.  Racey was wrong - the deficiencies are too serious to leave for after a vote.  Why she didn't realize this is a mystery but consistent with the "just give us approval" attitude Synagro has displayed throughout.  Racey stated that the DEP needs to see at least conditional approval to issue permits, including the issuance of one permit Synagro would need to go to the zoning hearing board and argue they do not need a variance.  Like a chicken and egg situation.  Chairman Levitz had admonished Synagro for once again submitting their package with too little time for planners to be prepared to review it, and once again Pan Racey appeared clueless as to what Levitz was referring to.  "Do planners not receive the package when we send it?  I don't understand."  What Racey failed totally to consider is that the township's consultants have to have time to do a review, get the reviews to the township, and the township sends the reviews to planners days ahead of a meeting.  When Racey was informed that 21 days ahead is typically the requirement, this seemed to blow her mind.  Ironically, Racey herself lamented that there was not time to respond to the township's comments of August 30.  Hello - if you granted an extension and postponed this meeting, or submitted your materials a few weeks earlier, you would have that time.  Where is this woman from - Planet Clueless?  This is the person 4 months ago who exclaimed "I just can't wrap my arms around the concern over the water in this pond."  People this stupid shouldn't be allowed to... well, they shouldn't.

The next hour and a half was spent discussing the more significant issues such as variances and the lack of an environmental impact statement.  Racey announced that Synagro will choose the course that is most likely to result in "approval," and may choose to "go to court" to achieve approval - the assumption being for some reason that they will prevail .  At this point Plainfield counsel Backenstoe pointed out that the only venue he knows of to hear variances is the local zoning hearing board - not a court.

Let's hear from that kindly looking gentleman that speaks the citizens rights gospel

Plainfield Environmental counsel Jack Embick was asked if he still felt that an Environmental Impact Statement was needed, and lacking it he would continue to recommend that planners recommend denying the application.  This led to Mr. Embick delivering a prepared 15+ minute soliloquy on the scope of an EIS, and how it could assist planners in assessing the short and long term impacts of this project on various aspects of the lives of people in the community as well as on the environment.  Article 1 Section 27 of the PA Constitution is the authority that protects these values.  Mr. Embick felt that many items contained in an EIS have not been addressed by Synagro, despite repeated requests for Synagro to submit one.  Mr. Petrucci had enumerated five or six occasions beginning in March 2018 that an EIS was requested by planners.  (Note: Waste Management/Synagro's legal counsel Elizabeth Witmer doesn't think much of the Constitution, but she kept her mouth shut on this evening.  This is best, as when she speaks she is very dismissive, daft, and condescending)

Chairman Levitz crafts a segway to conclusion

Several audience members were allowed to speak for 2 minutes each at courtesy of the floor and then a break was taken at 9:40pm.

Public speaker points out troubling reality

At courtesy of the floor, Howard Klein pointed out a concern he has mentioned several times - how are any of the conditions placed on Synagro for monitoring odors, water quality, etc going to be enforced?  He stated that they will not be.  His point was, all these concessions Synagro is making (such as shutting down the plant if problems go unresolved) are to get their foot in the door, and once they do you will not be able to control problems.  Think about it - there is no way Synagro would shut down its plant.  For one, they lose money.  Two, their contracts require them to haul away shit with no excuses.  So that shit has to go somewhere.  Can't pile it up on this postage stamp-sized lot.

Follow the money

Don Moore asked a seemingly simple question that Mr. Hecht could not answer - whom will Synagro pay for its waste heat?  Mr. Hecht previously stated that Green Knight has an "arrangement" with Waste Management to be remunerated, suggesting that possibly Synagro will purchase Green Knights' waste heat not from Green Knight but from Waste Management.  Mr. Hecht seemed confused (like usual), and stuttered out that "it's c... complicated".   Could it be that the reason Green Knights is receiving a few pennies on the dollar for its waste heat be that Waste Management is acting as a middle man?  An additiuonal question Mr. Moore could have asked is, how much is Synagro paying for the waste heat that Green Knights generates and is receiving only up to $100,000 for?   How much more than $100,000 is it?

After reconvening at 9:55pm, with 5 minutes remaining, Chairman Levitz pointed out that there were remaining items, and asked if Synagro was interested in an extension.  Synagro first tried the "any remaining details can be made conditions," but apparently Trudy Johnson quietly said something to Hecht and had made clear to him that Material Matters' issues were non-trivial.  Hecht reported this to planners "I just learned it is more than dotting i's and crossing t's," sounding almost surprised.  Are these people on medication?  Acting stupid on purpose - for almost three years?

What is left is a lot more than dotting i's and crossing t's

The 5" thick packet delivered on August 30 that Waste Management and Synagro surely paid many thousands of dollars for was apparently intended to tie up loose ends to the point that in Racey's mind would leave anything else as a "condition" as part of a conditional approval.  But it slowly dawned on Racey and Hecht that planners were not going to grant conditional approval this evening, and to gain approval a lot more was needed.  Racey suddenly proposed to do an EIS, with the guidance of Embick for what it would contain.  Whatever it takes to get to DEP's safe shelter.  Hecht proposed a 30-day extension, and when challenged suggested that he could provide a later deadline on Tuesday by phone.  Planners were having no part this, stating correctly an extension was required this evening and that it made no sense to make it 30 days (been there, done that way too many times).  Once planners revealed 90 days would be their preference, Racey and Hecht went for 60 days, and once again the seemingly clueless Racey suggested that after 60 days, an EIS would not be completed but the framework for one would be and a completed EIS could be conditional approval.  Planner Dingle pointed out an EIS with no content to base decisions on would be of no use, echoed by Embick.  Basically, audience members could see that planners were willing to have no part of the short extensions that Synagro has become known for, including meetings in which submissions are received too late for to be reviewed.  Racey and Hecht seemed flustered that their usual routine of one month extensions rope-a-dope was playing out in daylight, and that this move was not going to be acceptable.  The writing was on the wall - someone was coming for their carpet squares, taking away their safe space.

Reckoning day is here

Chairman Levitz put his foot down, and stated that he felt if Synagro was not willing to grant a 90-day extension this evening, then planners should vote on the application in its current state.  The time was now 10:05pm.  After hemming and hawing around, Hecht stated that if these were the two choices, then planners should go ahead and vote.  It took little time for planner Terry Kleintop to read a prepared motion to recommend rejection of the application.  Planner Simpson seconded the motion and the rest is history - until September 19 when the BOS is scheduled to vote on the proposal.

It is hard to believe that Synagro pulled out at this time - they must have known the vote would go against them - as they had made significant progress on multiple points of contention.  They agreed to add several monitoring locations and wells, and even agreed to a Protocol that would shut down the facility if they fall out of compliance.  As Howard Klein has observed above, they likely would never do most of the things they committed to do, would be the same nuisance they are in other communities and were only agreeing to get in the door.  At the same time, their utter lack of courtesy for the planners is inexplicable - both the last minute submissions and refusing to submit materials that were requested.  It's like dealing with a schizophrenic.

The fix is in for Synagro, but how to get past the township?

Synagro's problem is, without the permits from DEP that are needed to make moot one of the variances, they need the local approval or conditional approval that they can not obtain.  As Racey described this conundrum to the planners, an audience member mumbled "your problems are not our problems."  The fact is, Synagro brought this on itself by choosing a site that requires variances.  While Racey was fixated on conditional approval for the DEP, she was blinded to the fact that there were very real serious deficiencies that would prevent said conditional approval.  Wishful thinking?  Denial?  Certainly not a rational approach.  Synagro and Waste Management have very deep pockets, so don't be surprised when this shitshow resurfaces.  This project is worth 10's of millions to Waste Management over the life of the plant - they will be back.  It is clear that Waste Management and Synagro feel that DEP will waive the green flag - the fix is in.  But they never figured out how to use anything but apparent ignorance and legal threats with the planning commission, not even that they needed to submit materials in a timely manner.  The plan from day one was to sweep aside the township as a mere nuisance, and get big daddy DEP to take them across the finish line.  Recall that at meeting one in November 2016, Robert Cornman, Jr was a planning commission member as well as the Green Knight spokesperson for this project, and he did his best to obtain conditional approval that very night.  Just give us what we want, and we'll be a good neighbor.  Just look at Synagro's reputa- oh, yeah, about that.

Assuming the BOS votes the same way as the planners recommend, it could take 6 months or more for an appeal to be heard in the Court of Common Pleas - after a 30 day appeal period.  Will DEP continue to work on the permit applications?  Who the hell knows.

Footnote: Following the meeting, Northampton County Council member Tara Zrinski observed "Plainfield Township is very lucky. Their Planning Commission is extremely strong." The Planning Commission is very strong, and should be commended for remaining focused and professional throughout this ordeal - which began in November 2016.

Plainfield Township planners consider Enforcement, Shutdown and Fines protocol for proposed Synagro crap factory submitted at eleventh hour

On August 30, 2019, five business days prior to what is planned to be the final planning commission review of Synagro's land development plan, Synagro submitted a thick package of updated materials.  This consists of a full set of plans (including modification of a driveway) and truck movement diagrams, as well as over 300 pages of narrative.  Normally, there is a three week requirement for new materials to be submitted, which has been violated multiple times by Synagro.  Chairman Levitz admonished Synagro about this only 3 months ago.  The three week requirement is to allow for consultant review, and review by planners prior to a meeting.  An ethical applicant would extend the deadline (currently September 30, 2019) for a decision, when submitting materials they would like considered with 5 business days notice.  Mr. Levitz' point addressing this issue was, if you want the commission to consider something it is common as well as professional courtesy to submit it in a timely manner.  In this case the township is not dealing with an ethical applicant, so neither of these courtesies are relevant.

Included in the submission is the latest draft of the Nuisance Mitigation Control Plan.  This document is prepared by Synagro by request of the township, and township biosolids consultant Trudy Johnson is the expert who is evaluating its contents as suitable on unsuitable.

While some items in Synagro's late submission may have been new to the township, the township had something up its sleeve for Synagro that it delivered a few days later.  On September 4, Ms. Johnson submitted a document titled "Enforcement/Shutdown Provisions Protocol," which was delivered to Synagro on September 6, 2019.  The lack of finalizing agreement on this Protocol and its inclusion in the NMCP is included in the memorandum of Mr. Petrucci (also delivered on September 6), as a justification for recommending denial of the plan.

Planning commission and audience members as well as Pen Argyl solicitor Peter Layman have expressed concern for months that enforcement may not be effective.  Synagro's proposal in the NMCP would result in a situation where months could go by before any action might be taken to resolve a complaint of odors.  To address this, Ms. Johnson has crafted this Protocol, which includes a table of fines due to lack of compliance.  Synagro isn't going to be enamored of either fines or "shutdown".  This blogger did not find this Protocol in the August 30 version of the NMCP submitted by Synagro (attached below), so it appears to be brand new.  It is only two pages, and presented for your inspection:

Synagro Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center Enforcement/Shutdown Provision Protocol on Scribd

  Enforcement/Shutdown Provision Protocol

Here is Synagro's submission of the NMCP on August 30:

Nuisance Mitigation Control Plan - 8.30.2019 Submission on Scribd