Stop polluting Sewickley Creek, EPA tells Yukon landfill operator

A Yukon landfill operator that stores industrial and hazardous wastes it treats has agreed to repair its onsite wastewater treatment plant that has holes in it, allowing pollution from the facility to be discharged into Sewickley Creek, according to a federal consent decree released Friday.

MAX Environmental Technologies Inc. of McCandless agreed in the consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency that it would develop a plan to correct the permit violations the EPA found in its March 2023 inspection of the facilities.

But a company official said it is likely that any improvements to the plant won’t be done until 2025.

EPA inspectors said there were “numerous failures” to properly maintain and operate the treatment plant, as well as poor reporting of wastewater test results and a lack of pollution prevention training of its employees.

Metals and other pollution were found flowing from a pipe discharging water into the tributary of the Youghiogheny River, as well as the stormwater runoff from the landfill, from January 2022 to July 2023, the EPA said.

The privately-held company generates revenue by treating a variety of wastes, including wastewater treatment sludge, corrosives, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, selenium, silver, electric arc furnace dust, and waste acid from steel mills. It manages leachate from the landfill that generates sludge from wastewater treatment.

Robert Shawver, MAX Environmental CEO, signed the consent order on Sept. 23.

Carl Spadaro, environmental general manager for MAX Environmental Technologies, said that the company has been working to comply with the issues found by the federal inspectors. In the past 18 months, the company’s tests on the pollution from the landfill has shown much better results, Spadaro said.

An independent engineering firm will study the wastewater treatment plant and make recommendations within 90 days.

The EPA will review recommendations but Spadaro said it is likely that any improvements to the plant would not be done until 2025.

The company has six months to submit to the EPA a maintenance plan for primary and second treatment of the wastewater, according to the consent decree.

The consent decree comes after MAX Environmental had agreed in an April 2024 consent decree with the EPA, to address the problems with the treatment and storage of hazardous wastes.

Watershed group reacts

To the Mountain Watershed Association of Melcroft, an environmental group that has monitored MAX Environmental’s operations for many years, the latest consent decree is another example that MAX is unable to handle the responsibility of operating under its permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA, said Stacey Magda, a community organizer for the association.

“It’s time for the EPA and the DEP to shut them down,” Magda said. “It’s much of the same with MAX Environmental.”

The Yukon landfill that MAX Environmental and its predecessor, Mill Service have operated, has long been a source of complaints for more than 40 years by Yukon area residents. They have raised concerns about the polluted air and waste and dust emanating from the landfill.

The company had applied to the state Department of Environmental Protection to create a seventh landfill because its last operating storage site on the 162-acre property was nearing its capacity. That application was met with strong opposition from area residents and questions about deficiencies from the state regulators.

MAX Environmental withdrew its application for the new landfill in February 2023 and Spadaro said plans to reapply are on hold until the latest issues about the operations are resolved.

The EPA will give Yukon area residents an opportunity to express their opinions about the landfill in a virtual listening session from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9. The virtual meeting link can be accessed by visiting the EPA webpages on Oct. 9 at epa.gov/pa/virtual-community-listening-session-max-environmental-technologies.

Mountain Watershed Association has made arrangements to use the Yukon Fire Hall as a site for those who want to participate in the virtual listening session on Oct. 9, Magda said.