Letter to City Council on Incinerator Ash

From: Michael R Helfrich
Time Stamp 10/23/2002 12:20:32 PM



Dear Council Members,

Back in August I went out to investigate a complaint about large piles of processed incinerator ash near Willis Run and Roosevelt Ave. These piles have lead me into quite a deep investigation that is drawing on my memory of college chemistry classes. This ash contains multiple toxic compounds including Mercury, Lead, and Chromium compounds, as well as dioxins. The company that processes the incinerator ash uses a phosphorous bath to reduce the mobility of the lead into the environment. Lead Phosphate does not migrate into the environment nearly as fast as lead, but is still cancer-causing. The chemical compounds are not addressed in any information i have found at the PaDEP in Harrisburg. Also the PaDEP has found obvious violations while in my presence and has not given any violations to the company.

This is a long story so let me sum it up. They are burying this toxic ash fill under construction in the City, under the Rail-Trail parking Lots, under the Unitarian Church parking lot, and their goal is to use as much of the ash as possible for construction fill. If they put it under our city and county they don't have to pay to put it in the landfill.

When they put this under a lot or structure there is no documentation for future landowners. If the next person develops the land, they will be exposing this stuff. That's just the beginning. There are 315,000 tons of the ash on York City's western boundary. In 1999, when there were less than 100,000 tons, the PaDEP warned the company that if they don't move it faster it would be considered waste, and it would be inappropriate to store the treated ash in the quarry. Now there is over 3 times that amount, and the PaDEP has done nothing. The representative from the PaDEP, David Hrobuchak, and myself and others observed ash blowing toward the City of York's Fireside and Devers areas.

After the PaDEP told the company for three years that they had to move their product faster, the company applied for a new permit. The old permit stated that you could not put the treated ash within 100 feet of a waterway. After not being able to move their product under these conditions, the PaDEP saw fit to change the permit to "if thicker than 2 feet thick, it may not be within 100 feet of a waterway". That means they can put it right up to the creek! However, PaDEP also reduced the allowable amount of dioxins to 130 parts per trillion. From one report i found the ash contains between 6 and 10 times that amount of dioxin.

So, i know i've been jumping around a bit. There are many facets to this story: human exposure from dust from the ash piles, environmental exposure, properties being used as unlined landfills, the prospect of a city with deposits of toxins all over without any documentation or warning to future landowners. Because this issue may have short and long term impacts to the City, i would like your assistance. We need the list of chemical compounds in this treated ash from American Ash Recycling of PA. We need to know how much dioxin is in it. We need to know why the PaDEP allows this pile of ash to grow and grow, while they make empty threats to the company.

I will be delivering information packets to you with an explanation of what i have found in my file searches at the PaDEP. All i am asking is for council to request information that i was unable to attain through my efforts. Although these matters are generally the decision of the PaDEP, we are the ones that have to live with these toxins, and we should at least know some more about them. Thank you.

See you along the Codorus, Michael R Helfrich
President, CCIP