Article “Harrisburg incinerator sale raises environmental concerns” starts out as though it will at long last address the serious issue of whether the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority (LCSWMA) is exposing Lancaster County residents to a future big jump in trash collection fees should it acquire the Harrisburg incinerator and the Department of Environmental Protection require a ‘clean up’ at a future date.
“The Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority’s pending purchase of the much-maligned Harrisburg incinerator for $130.7 million has pushed an old environmental concern to the surface.
“Namely, is there dangerous hazardous waste buried in an old unlined incinerator ash dump and why won’t the authority do a thorough environmental assessment to see if that’s the case?”
Instead, the article becomes the equivalent of a paid advertisement for the LCSWMA and its president, Jim Warner.
Warner response to the public request for a third party, Environmental Impact Study is:
“We would not do this transaction had we not done due diligence on the environmental circumstance there. And we’ve had detailed discussions with (state Department of Environmental Protection) on whether or not they feel there is any lingering legacy liabilities there.”
And
“If you’re applying to expand a facility or build a new one, then you would have to do an environmental assessment, meaning what impact might occur.”
In other words, the county citizenry isn’t entitled to third party professional, evaluations in exchange for committing approximately $200 million.
It is the same attitude we experienced with the sponsors of the Convention Center: ‘Trust us. We don’t need to seek evaluations from outside authorities to justify the spending of the public’s money.’
We surmise that the Corbett Administration has leaned on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to suppress prior positions in order to facilitate this essential part of the governor’s plan to bail out the City of Harrisburg and avoid the city filing for protection in the Federal Bankruptcy Court.
The outcome in federal court would undoubtedly cost lenders a fortune and possibly lead to federal prosecution of elected officials and others for fraud.
What the article also doesn’t address is the soundness of the investment. For this Warner should have obtained a third party Feasibility Study. Once again, as was the case with the Lancaster County Convention Center sponsors, hubris and arrogance (and in that case sheer greed) generates the attitude of ‘Trust us.’
The editor (we don’t blame reporters) willfully ignored the numerous articles posted by Bill Keisling containing facts and statements from credible authorities that vigorously contradict Warner.
The citizenry is being flimflammed and the Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. once again is perpetuating the scam. To sell advertisement and to ‘get along’, they aren’t going to step on the toes of any establishment member. Shame on them.
It certainly is a shame that the citizens of Lancaster County do NOT have a professional newspaper that adheres to journalistic ethics. We can only hope that someday LNP is sold/mergered/replaced by a newspaper firm that is professional and does have ethics, and puts the interests of the public ahead of it’s own self-serving interests. If it werew not for the obituary notives and the coberage of local sports, I would cancel my subscription in a heart-beat (and I’ve had 2 heart attacks this summer!!!!).