Article 1. § 27. Natural resources and the public estate.
The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people. [Click to View Source]
The Commonwealth of PA doesn’t make an exception for the case in which a big corporation in Arizona wishes to make a ton of money off of the People’s misfortune.
It’s often said the purpose of a Constitution is to ensure that a government does not have the power to infringe certain basic Rights belonging to the People.
In fact, Article I Sections 25 and 26 of the PA Constitution [Click to View] state that no governing body, including PA itself or its municipalities may prevent the People (that’s us) from enjoying these Rights. Government entities include PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Board of Supervisors of Lower Windsor Township.
PA DEP issues the permits Modern Landfill needs to operate, including wastewater discharge permits specifying limits on toxic substances, and is responsible for enforcing them.
In a May 18, 2020 article in the York Dispatch, Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, and a former EPA director of civil enforcement stated that Pennsylvania “has been slashing the budget and staffing of its Department of Environmental Protection.” PA DEP spokesperson Deborah Klenotic acknowledged significant cuts to DEP and said DEP “has pursued new and updated fees for regulated entities to ensure that critical operations can continue and be bolstered.” Currently, Republic Services pays Pennsylvania fees to use for environmental purposes of $6.25/ton of trash dumped in the landfill. The township that puts up with the landfill, the damage to its infrastructure and the environmental disaster that all landfills eventually cause, receives $0.97/ton. One wonders if the incentives are properly aligned.
Unfortunately, large corporations like Republic Services have lots of money for campaign contributions and to spend on lobbyists. PA legislators are naturally influenced by this, and they are responsible for the cutting of funds to PA DEP. That is not to say that the rank and file of DEP are any less competent or motivated to protect the residents of Pennsylvania than, say, California’s Department of Environmental Protection is for California. However, PA DEP has to do what it can with grossly inadequate funding.
In late 2021, DEP was so short staffed they could not assign an employee to update and renew Modern Landfill’s wastewater discharge permit that was to expire January 31, 2022. Thus, the old version had to be administratively extended, allowing Modern to discharge toxins into Kreutz Creek at levels that should have been updated. Similar PA DEP permits have gone over 10 years before being renewed for the same reason.
In April 2022, the US EPA charged Pennsylvania with not providing enough resources to clean up the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Inadequate funding of PA DEP was the reason.
In June of 2020, after a Grand Jury Report that was critical of DEP’s failure to police environmental complaints and warn the public when they were at risk, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office charged two drilling companies with environmental crimes for their alleged pollution of a stream in Washington County. [Click to Read]
“The safety of Pennsylvanians and our natural resources cannot be jeopardized when companies with big influence and deep pockets take advantage of our land and water for profits and disregard people,” PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement.
The People of Lower Windsor Township are depending on PA DEP and the governing body of Lower Windsor Township to enforce our laws and protect our Environmental Rights. It’s their job. It’s in the PA Constitution.