LAWRENCE COUNTY Officials to fight landfill

The county hired an attorney to argue against the proposed landfill.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County commissioners say they are ready to spend money to block a proposed landfill near McConnell's Mill State Park.
They hired William Otto, an attorney for Sebring & amp; Associates in Monroeville, to review a landfill application by Sechan Limestone Industries, Portersville, Pa., submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The application, which is necessary to obtain a permit to construct a landfill, specifies that Sechan wants to build a 91-acre nonhazardous industrial waste landfill in Lawrence and Butler counties.
Lawrence County commissioners have said they oppose the landfill because they fear its waste would infiltrate nearby McConnell's Mill State Park and Slippery Rock Creek, a water source for much of the county.
Industrial waste landfills accept things such as contaminated soil, ceramics, pesticides, pharmaceutical waste and wastes containing asbestos and oil.
Commissioners say they need Otto, who specialized in environmental law, to decipher the technical jargon in the landfill application, which was submitted to state officials in July. He will be paid $190 an hour for his work.
"We certainly don't have the experts needed," Commissioner Ed Fosnaught said.
Commissioners Brian Burick and Roger DeCarbo agreed.
"We've now put our money where our mouth is. This is going to be very expensive. This is certainly what the board wants and what the residents want," DeCarbo said.
Fosnaught said they expect to meet with state officials in November to discuss the landfill application.
Parcels: In other business, commissioners hired Lawyers Abstract of Beaver County to research the status of 107 parcels of private property. All of the parcels are part of bankruptcy proceedings.
DeCarbo said, however, commissioners believe some of the bankruptcy proceedings have ended and the property owners are not paying county real estate taxes. Lawyers Abstract will be paid $35 for each bankruptcy file it reviews in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh.