RESOLUTION __________________________

A Resolution of Newtown Borough Council Stating its Opposition to the Proposed Elcon
Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex in
Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
WHEREAS, Elcon Recycling Center ("Elcon") is applying to build an industrial
wastewater treatment plant in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex in Falls Township,
PA, 800 yards from the Delaware River, which is 15 miles from Newtown, PA; and
WHEREAS, air pollutants can travel at least 100 miles, adversely affecting air quality
within at least a 30 mile radius and can affect people with allergies, asthma, auto-immune
disorders, COPD, heart, and other medical conditions; and
WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") has
stated that the proposed industrial waste treatment facility would treat liquid waste from
the chemical and pharmaceutical industries; and
WHEREAS, the proposed plant is expected to process 210,000 tons of raw wastewater
per year that will include extremely high levels of mercury, cadmium, lead, and other
chemicals; and
WHEREAS, studies show that even after treatment, the hazardous wastewater will still
contain unacceptable levels of mercury, cadmium, and lead; and
WHEREAS, the wastewater treatment process is expected to produce over 39 tons of air
emissions containing, among other pollutants, nitrous oxide (NOS), ammonia (NH3),
hydrochloric acid (HCl), volatile organic compounds (VOC), sulfur oxide (SOX) and
total particulate matter; and
WHEREAS, Elcon only has a plant operating in Israel and has been denied applications
in other countries; and
WHEREAS, Elcon's Haifa Bay plant in Israel was relocated to a remote desert location in
Israel; and
WHEREAS, Elcon proposes to treat 596 different toxins that will be transported into
Bucks County from at least 10 states (MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, and NC),
the treatment of which will produce 800 tons of sludge and 5,000 tons of hazardous salts,
which will then be transported out of Bucks County, all of which will expose the
residents of Bucks County to the potential for accidents or leaks in our communities; and

WHEREAS, given the close proximity of the proposed plant to the Delaware River and
its location in a high density residential area where over 10,000 children attend school
within 4 miles, and due to the significant possibility of spillage and pollution affecting
the Delaware River to the Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean; and
WHEREAS, the Delaware River is a primary source of drinking water and recreation for
the Borough of Newtown and surrounding communities; and
WHEREAS, by letter dated October 14, 2015, Philadelphia Water (also known as the
Philadelphia Water Department), which provides drinking water to over 1.7 million
people and stormwater and wastewater management to over 2.2 million people, wrote to
the DEP, requesting Elcon's application for a Phase I siting permit be denied, noting that
(1) the proposed Elcon plant would present a risk of a multiple-day contamination of the
tidal drinking water supply located downstream from the proposed plant, (2) the plant
would attract regional hazardous waste via railways and highways into one of the most
densely populated areas on the East Coast, and (3) the transport of hazardous materials by
ship or barge in navigable water-ways presents a significant risk to the drinking water
supply of millions of people, and (4) in light of the extensive drinking water supply
contamination in West Virginia caused by a chemical storage facility leak, the proposed
location along a tidal freshwater drinking supply amplifies the consequence of any
accidental release of hazardous waste; and
WHEREAS, even if Elcon were not to utilize transportation by rail, barge, or ship, the
transport of hazardous materials would take place on the streets, roads, and highways of
Bucks County and surrounding areas; and
WHEREAS, while Newtown Borough Council recognizes the need for proper disposal
and treatment of hazardous waste, it also recognizes that it needs to be done in a safe
location with the least impact upon human and wildlife populations and the surrounding
local supporting eco systems of such; and
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania states at Article 27,
"The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural,
scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural
resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come.
As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for
the benefit of all the people."
WHEREAS, Newtown Borough Council understands the need for inter-municipal
cooperation as environmental challenges cross municipal lines, existing zoning and land
development rules are not always sufficient to solve all environmental challenges; and

WHEREAS, the governing boards of other local communities, including Newtown

Township, the Borough of Morrisville, Yardley Borough, Upper Makefield Township,
and Middletown Township, have passed resolutions opposing the construction of the
Elcon industrial wastewater treatment plant at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by Newtown Borough Council, Bucks
County, PA, that it does hereby oppose the construction of the proposed Elcon industrial
wastewater treatment plant at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex and that it further
urges the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Falls Township
Board of Supervisors to consider the danger of the proposed facility at the Keystone Port
Complex in Falls Township to the residents of Newtown Borough, Bucks County, and all
of the residents of the Delaware Valley.