The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has entered a Consent Order and Agreement with Keystone Sanitary Landfill for odor violations, including creating malodors, at its facility in the Lackawanna County boroughs of Dunmore and Throop between November 2022 and February 2024, and impacting residents in several surrounding communities.

The $575,000 civil penalty is the largest penalty DEP has issued to Keystone Sanitary Landfill in the last decade.

Under the agreement, DEP has ordered Keystone to take corrective action to mitigate the potential for off-site odors from its leachate lagoons. Some of those measures include utilizing foam, implementing a new intermediate cover system, and submitting to the department a permit modification for the installation of two 2,500,000-gallon leachate storage tank systems. DEP has also directed the landfill to re-evaluate the effectiveness of its Reverse Osmosis system for treating leachate and make any necessary modifications. Under the agreement, Keystone is also required to mitigate landfill gas odors from the site. Keystone must implement additional surface monitoring and follow an accelerated capping schedule of at least 30 acres.

A $575,000 civil penalty will be split between DEP and the boroughs of Dunmore and Throop. DEP will receive $180,000 from the COA, plus $35,000 for cost recovery. The $180,000 will be deposited into the Solid Waste Abatement Fund, which is a statewide fund set up to eliminate potential hazards related to solid waste. DEP also worked to ensure that the boroughs of Dunmore and Throop will each receive $180,000, which Keystone Landfill is required to deposit into a separate bank account for both parties. This money will be used to fund projects which substantially improve, protect, restore, or remediate the environment, or improve, protect, or reduce risks to the public health or safety.

Following an increase of complaints about off-site odors from the Keystone Sanitary Landfill, DEP staff to address hundreds of odor complaints and conducted odor patrols on weekdays, early mornings, evenings, and weekends.

During complaint investigations and regular and after-hours odor patrols, from November 2022 through February 2024, there were at least 70 occasions where representatives of the department detected landfill gas and/or leachate odors off-site and attributed them to Keystone.

Staff also determined that Keystone had created odors, including strong malodors, from its facility, impacting the community. A malodor is “(A) n odor which causes annoyance or discomfort to the public and which the department determines to be objectionable to the public.”