Cumberland County holds workshop on Green Ridge landfill conditional use permit; no final decision

The Cumberland County Planning Commission on (date not specified) held a workshop on a conditional use permit (CUP) application from Green Ridge, a proposed landfill project. Applicant representatives described a smaller project footprint than an earlier proposal, said portions of the first phase would avoid impacts to jurisdictional wetlands and outlined operational parameters, but commissioners did not take final action and asked staff to collect questions for a second workshop.

The workshop centered on how the revised plan would affect traffic, permitting and future expansion. Will Schumate, the applicant’s representative, said the revised plan reduces the overall scope compared with an earlier submission and that the first phase “not to have any impacts whatsoever on any of the jurisdiction wetlands.” He told commissioners the operation could accept as much as 3,500 tons a day in the future: “Yes. There’s a possibility that it would show up to 3,500 tons a day.” Commissioners and members of the public repeatedly pressed the applicant for specifics about truck routes, counts and road impacts.

Why it matters: commissioners must weigh local transportation impacts, water and wetland permitting, visual and noise effects and the terms of a host agreement before recommending a CUP to the Board of Supervisors. Several commissioners said they need clearer, written answers to a long list of technical and operational questions before voting.

Commissioners focused on traffic and access. Commissioners and residents noted the project’s proximity to Route 60 and Pine Grove Road and asked how haul traffic would be routed. The applicant said that at certain thresholds of throughput (the applicant tied a change in access to a 1,500-ton threshold), trucks would use a route from Route 60; the applicant also said an estimate of roughly 75 truck trips per day would correspond to about 3,500 tons a day. Commissioners asked who would pay for road repairs and how county roads such as Pine Grove Road would be affected; the applicant said those issues are part of ongoing negotiations and condition development.

Permitting and environmental protections were repeatedly discussed. The applicant described a multi-stage permitting process that includes state-level review by the Department of Environmental Quality and federal permits if wetlands are to be disturbed; the applicant said the first phase avoids impacts to jurisdictional wetlands. Commissioners sought technical details about liners, leak-detection layers and inspection and monitoring systems; the applicant described a double-liner and leak-detection monitoring but did not provide a complete written specification at the workshop.

The host agreement that would accompany a CUP is “currently under negotiations,” county planning staff member Miss Johnson told the commission, and she said the host agreement ultimately will go to the Board of Supervisors for action. She also emphasized that the conditions the applicant provided are proposed and “are not set in stone.”

Commissioners directed staff to collect written questions and provide answers before the next workshop. Planning staff and the applicant’s representatives agreed to continue negotiations and to supply further technical material to the commission. No formal vote on the CUP occurred at the workshop; the commission adjourned and scheduled a follow-up meeting.

Ending: The commission concluded the workshop by asking commissioners to submit additional questions in writing to planning staff so the applicant can provide detailed responses at the next session. The commission then approved a motion to adjourn and reconvene at a date and time recorded in the meeting motion.