Pennsylvania Files Petition Against Site

Citing a five-year battle to force the owners of Lower Mount Bethel Township dump site to comply with department closure orders and pay civil penalties, Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty announced a stepped-up enforcement and compliance directive that will ensure violations are corrected in a timely manner, and that accompanying fines are sufficient to make violators—not Pennsylvania taxpayers—responsible for the costs of correcting violations.

 “Most companies in the Commonwealth are good environmental performers. There occasionally are exceptions to this rule, however, as we see at Stine Farms & Recycling Inc.,” Secretary McGinty said. “Fairness, competitiveness and the public’s right to a clean and healthy environment all demand that those bad actors be dealt with firmly and swiftly. That is exactly what this new compliance and enforcement directive is designed to do.”

Stine Farms & Recycling Inc., Clayton M. Stine Jr. and Michael Stine, all of which are listed on the DEP petition, have stockpiled tree stumps 20- to 30-feet deep over a 100-acre area. The Stines have ignored closure orders and civil penalties that were issued after stockpiles of stumps and wood chips caught fire in 1999, sending smoke and odors through the neighboring community. DEP had to expend emergency response funds to help several local fire companies bring the blaze under control.

Despite orders for the company to cease transporting, dumping, burning or disposing of stumps, wood chips and other debris on their property, ongoing inspections and monitoring by DEP over the years revealed that the Stines did not comply. As recently as January, in addition to the stumps, inspectors found the Stines illegally accepting construction and demolition debris. The Stines continue to accept this debris, ignoring an order issued by DEP in March.

Documenting the Stines’ continued noncompliance and more recent violations, DEP filed a Petition for Contempt with Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg on April 5. The petition asks the court to impose the appropriate punishment, including incarceration, to force the Stines into compliance and ensure relief for the Commonwealth.

“These individuals simply refused to comply or cooperate with DEP or the township, and that should not be tolerated,” Secretary McGinty said. “For too long, a small minority of people who just didn’t care whether they fouled the environment or threatened public health got away with it. Our new enforcement and compliance directive puts in place a stronger written policy to correct violations in a timely manner and collect fines to pay for these violations.”

The new directive sets department-wide guidelines for identifying violations, notifying those responsible, tracking and resolving the violations, and enforcing penalties to protect taxpayers from picking up the bill for correcting non-compliance. The directive also helps well-meaning individuals and businesses receive prompt information on violations for which they are responsible, along with clear timetables for taking actions to correction the violations.

In addition to these stepped-up enforcement and compliance standards are new incentives for good actors. For businesses and individuals with a strong history of compliance, the directive allows the department to reduce wherever possible the number of inspections and the requirement for reports to be sent to DEP by entities that have a third-party audited environmental management system in place. DEP also will begin reviewing the reports it requires of companies and eliminate any that do not provide valuable information.