HILLSVILLE, PA. Residents air concerns over landfill

Some residents are concerned about the possibility of arsenic in the fly ash.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HILLSVILLE, Pa. -- Residents upset about plans to deposit fly ash in an abandoned limestone quarry about a half-mile from the Ohio line expressed their concerns to Mahoning Township supervisors Tuesday.
Supervisors promised to set an informational meeting and invite representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection to answer residents' questions.
Residents say Erskine Resources, owner of the old Erskine limestone quarry, which has been idle for about 25 years, has applied for a reclamation permit for landfilling fly ash from power companies on 20 acres there. Fly ash is unburnable particles left from burning fuels at power generating stations.
The site is on Evergreen Road, off New Castle Road behind Mahoning Presbyterian Church.
Supervisors confirmed they have been notified about the request, but Gary Pezzuolo explained that since the DEP considers the project to be mine reclamation, supervisors cannot force it to comply with zoning prohibitions against landfills.
"I call it a dump, but they call it reclamation," Supervisor Poncho Exposito added.
Arsenic worries: Several residents of Butch Circle, where about 20 homes sit south of the site, said they are especially concerned about the possiblity of arsenic contamination coming from the fly ash.
Runoff from the landfill would flow toward Butch Circle, they said.
Mary Jane Miller of Butch Circle said after the meeting that although her research indicates that pure fly ash is not a hazard, residents do not know what type would be deposited, what it would be mixed with or whether it will be covered.
She said the EPA doesn't even know the hazards of putting fly ash in a minefield.
Residents asked that the meeting be scheduled before the DEP makes a decision and while they still have time to oppose the plan.
Other objections include the narrow width of Evergreen Road and potential hazards of large trucks' encountering school buses on a blind curve there.