Jan. 8—WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Monday announced it has issued a Notice of Violation to Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Lackawanna County for failing to control odors from the leachate lagoons at its facility in Dunmore and Throop Boroughs.

DEP’s investigation into residents’ complaints revealed that the odors rise to the level of a malodor after being detected by DEP staff at three residences in Throop Borough.

A malodor is defined by DEP regulation as: “An odor which causes annoyance or discomfort to the public and which the Department determines to be objectionable to the public.”

A malodor is confirmed if a landfill-associated odor is detected on a complainant’s property, with the complainant, by Department staff and is determined to be objectionable to the public.

“DEP stands by its commitment to promptly address odor complaints near Keystone Sanitary Landfill,” said DEP Interim Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “Thanks to community reports and swift response from dedicated DEP staff, we were able make this malodor determination and hold the landfill accountable. I want to assure the public that DEP staff are continuing to work diligently to ensure KSL mitigates these odors as soon as possible.”

The malodor determination was made after DEP staff responded to odor complaints on Dec. 2, 2023, and detected moderate to strong leachate odors consistent with odors that have been detected at KSL’s leachate lagoons. DEP then detected these odors at three homes in the borough and determined a malodor existed.

As a result of this investigation, DEP has determined that KSL is in violation of the Solid Waste Management Act, the Air Pollution Control Act, the Municipal Waste Management rules and regulations, and KSL’s operating permits.

KSL has 15 days to respond to the NOV and is to submit a proposed plan and schedule to DEP that addresses the correction and prevention of the above violations.

This is the second NOV DEP has issued to KSL in recent weeks. In December, 2023, DEP issued an NOV for failure to control odors, citing the landfill for inadequate cover. KSL has until Jan. 12, 2024 to submit an odor mitigation plan that addresses the December, 2023 NOV.

In addition to the NOVs, DEP suspended KSL’s Settlement Accommodation Plan in late November, 2023. The SAP allowed the landfill to add more waste to areas of the landfill that had previously been capped. This action was also in response to DEP’s investigation of numerous odor complaints received and the regular confirmation of landfill gas odors offsite by DEP staff during the months of September, 2023 through November, 2023.

DEP is actively addressing hundreds of complaints about off-site odors from the Keystone Sanitary Landfill. DEP staff are available to receive odor complaints around the clock, and are monitoring the landfill with inspectors who conduct odor patrols after-hours on weekdays and weekends.

DEP staff will continue to address each complaint. Odor complaints may be reported to 570-826-2511, 24 hours per day. Pennsylvanians can also file an online complaint at: greenport.pa.gov/obPublic/EnvironmentalComplaintForm.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.