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DEP Newsroom
Print   COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA 
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau 
Room 308, Main Capitol Building 
Harrisburg PA., 17120 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 12/1/2017
  CONTACT:  Melanie Williams, DEP 814-332-6615
  DEP Issues $600,000 Penalty to Advanced Disposal Services Greentree Landfill, LLC for Waste Slope Failure and Other Violations 
  Meadville, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that Advanced Disposal Services Greentree Landfill, LLC (Advanced Disposal) has agreed to a $600,000 civil penalty in a Consent Order and Agreement addressing a waste slope failure that resulted in the death of its employee at the Greentree Landfill in Kersey, Elk County. 

On February 8, 2017, a slope failure occurred at the Greentree Landfill causing an estimated 15.5 acres of solid waste to shift and an estimated five acres of solid waste to slide off the lined disposal area. A landfill employee was trapped in the slide and died.  

In addition to paying $600,000 for violations of the Solid Waste Management Act occurring before and after the slide, Advanced Disposal is required to submit a written “Root Cause” Report to the DEP on or before December 31, 2017, detailing Advanced Disposal’s investigation and conclusion regarding the cause of the slope failure. Advanced Disposal has also agreed to operational changes that will improve safety, including:

•    Limit municipal sewage sludge and approved non-hazardous waste with flowable characteristics to 10% of the monthly scaled tonnage with a maximum of 15% of the total scaled tonnage on any one day until the slide has been remediated 
•    Limit municipal sewage sludge and approved non-hazardous waste with flowable characteristics to 15% of the monthly scaled tonnage with a maximum of 20% of the total scaled tonnage on any one day for three years after the slide has been remediated 
•    Remove and dispose of all the waste outside the lined area of the landfill by March 31, 2018, according to a plan approved by the Department
•    Improve its Odor Control Plan  
•    Employ an individual or individuals to serve as the primary engineering and environmental compliance contact for the landfill

The Agreement provides additional stipulated penalties if Advanced Disposal fails to comply with its obligations in a timely manner.   http://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/NewsRoomPublic/articleviewer.aspx?id=21350&typeid=1

Yes, but that was garbage collection. 
I have no idea how it would work with a landfill, but landfillguy says they would bring in other operators. I have no reason to doubt that.

He's saying you can't shut a landfill down for any length of time because it could turn into a public health disaster.
They don't have a union,  so forming one now wouldn't help the workers with what happened in February.  

You are right. There needs to be noise from the employees.
https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/employee-rights

You are right. There needs to be noise from the employees.
https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/employee-rights

You are right. There needs to be noise from the employees.
https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/employee-rights

I plead with the employees to make a stand over this. I know some of you guys are reading this thread, and the opportunity is slipping away. I'm just some guy on the internet, what I say goes only so far, and I can't say too much for fear of my job. You guys were there, you know what happened. This is not right. Decisions were made that led directly to that disaster, and even if Mr. Pierce's family gets a settlement for millions of dollars, where does that leave the rest of us? This isn't a local issue, this is a nationwide issue, and you guys are in the spotlight for a brief time. You guys could make some noise that would affect change for all of the rest of us. I understand why you don't speak up, I have mouths to feed, too, but what are you defending? Just Google "landfill slide". It's just a matter of time...

Ok, so define that procedure? If I wanted to floor in an entire cell with sludge, there is nothing but common sense stopping me from doing that. What percentage of sludge is too much to maintain a stable working face? How many tons of trash have to be available to mix with X amount of sludge? What do you do when it's raining and the sludge coming in doubles? What do you do when you are sliver filling an outside slope, where you can't put sludge?
The simple answer to all of those questions is to set a limit on how much you can take, but when a government office makes a vague statement about "improper handling" after a fatality, then there is nothing these companies will change. They can just point at Greentree and say "They handled it wrong, won't happen to us".
I'm just so disgusted by all of this, I thought it may bring about change, but it looks like it won't happen

The facts are that Congress controls OSHA fines and regulations. It doesn't matter if they are Rs or Ds. 
http://fortune.com/2015/05/04/employee-deaths-consequences/

The facts are that Congress controls OSHA fines and regulations. It doesn't matter if they are Rs or Ds. 
http://fortune.com/2015/05/04/employee-deaths-consequences/

I know there was a thread here a while back about a vet who will come to your home, but I can't find it. Can someone give me the name of the vet? I have to say goodbye to a friend with cancer. Thank you.

I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope someone can get you the info.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer, but I always enjoyed her posts, especially those about her lovely children. She was a beautiful lady and will be greatly missed.

Not everyone is allergic to them. They are part of the food cycle and birds need to eat. I would stop swishing them. 

It isn't "easily curable". Trust me. 
 
The spirochetes can and will cross the Blood-Brain Barrier. When that happens, not many antibiotics can reach them. Even if you take ones that do, they have a hard time killing them all. 

I thought doxycycline cures the symptoms and puts the disease in remission but the disease could reoccure at any time. There is no cure. At least that's the way I understood what the vet told me.

How in the hell can you only get summary offenses for something like that?

How can anyone be an expert on Bigfoot?

Thanks for posting the link Fadedgenes!
 
Did everyone note that there isn't a lawn chair to be seen in the Labor Day Parade photos in DuBois?

Thanks for posting the link Fadedgenes!
 
Did everyone note that there isn't a lawn chair to be seen in the Labor Day Parade photos in DuBois?

Yale University released digital library of photos from the Depression Era.  Link should bring up a map and then you can click on county to view photos.  There are several photos in Jefferson Co. link of Ralph Reitz and family of Falls Creek/DuBois area.    There are some awesome pictures of DuBois in the Clearfield link, also Tyler and other areas.
 
http://photogrammar.yale.edu/map/

"One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ," Pope Francis recently told a boy grieving the loss of his dog. "Paradise is open to all of God's creatures."

Pope Dogs Are Taking Over The Internet 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
more photos: http://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/pope-dogs#.taGX66KeK
 
 

I've driven by there lots of times but never got out to investigate. I want to also get up that way to see the darkest park east of the Mississippi.

That appears to be a stream running just about the people and in front of the big house. I'm still checking out the people and what they're doing. In the original picture, to the left of the big house, there appears to be some sort of rectangular sign on a post. I could be wrong about that, but it sort of looks like it.