About 70 people from around the Poconos are begging the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to stop the region’s newest warehouse.
Blue Ridge Real Estate (BRRE) wants to build its second warehouse on State Route 940 in Kidder Township, Carbon County. Some residents fear the project doesn’t take enough precautions to protect Black Creek, a DEP-designated high quality stream.
They formed LOVE Kidder Township, a protest group to fight what they see as region-wide warehouse overdevelopment.
Blue Ridge Real Estate declined an interview. Attorney Mike Malloy said his client has said all it has to say on the project and protestors’ reactions.
The DEP has noted a series of deficiencies in Blue Ridge’s stormwater application. It’s in technical review, which means the DEP will review the application with heightened scrutiny, according to a DEP letter sent to Blue Ridge.
Robert Jevin, a DEP environmental group manager for the waterways and wetlands program, reviewed the application. He reported Blue Ridge labeled parts of documents incorrectly, presented inconclusive stormwater calculations and listed insufficient measures to prevent stormwater runoff.
“The technical deficiencies void the permit decision guarantee and any agreements that have been made regarding the timeline for the permit application review,” Jevin wrote in the DEP’s letter.
The DEP also granted the application draft approval in that letter, dated April 11.
Residents brought their concerns to the DEP at a stormwater permit hearing on Aug. 29. They argue that projects like Blue Ridge’s will overwhelm the Poconos.
James Miller, a resident of Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, told Thursday’s crowd that it “cannot view this warehouse in isolation,” arguing that commercial developments impact the Poconos and downstream communities.
“Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of the Lehigh Valley and then react to the damages we have caused? When we allow for the pervasive and unchecked development of warehouses, we are choosing corporate profits and convenient consumption over healthy communities and a healthy environment,” Miller said.
LOVE Kidder Township posted photos and videos of ponds that formed from heavy rain caused by Hurricane Debby on Aug. 8. This property is owned by PNK P5, not Blue Ridge Real Estate.
Courtesy of LOVE Kidder Township
LOVE Kidder Township posted photos and videos of ponds that formed from heavy rain caused by Hurricane Debby on Aug. 8. This property is owned by PNK P5, not Blue Ridge Real Estate.
Some residents argued that Kidder Township and the Poconos at large already faces environmental degradation from projects like BRRE #2.
Letty Thall, a Kidder resident, complained of pinkish, red water spilling onto State Route 940 from a warehouse in the aftermath of Hurricane Debby.
“I am reminded of a phrase that had been used when landfills were built in rural areas, ‘pollute, loot and scoot.’ Permitting this third warehouse so close to Black Creek and Francis Walter Dam, and directly across 940 from the first million-square foot warehouse, will have a cumulative impact,” said Thall.
That warehouse is under construction under PNK 5. Videos and images posted to LOVE Kidder’s Facebook show a pond of reddish water on PNK P5’s property on Aug. 8.
Activists demanded the DEP create stricter regulations to review commercial developments that would border high quality and exceptional value streams.
Linda Christman, president of Save Carbon County, spoke against Blue Ridge Real Estate's proposed warehouse on Aug. 29.
Isabela Weiss | WVIA News | Report for America
Linda Christman, president of Save Carbon County, spoke against Blue Ridge Real Estate's proposed warehouse on Aug. 29.
Linda Christman, president of environmental advocacy group Save Carbon County, criticized the DEP for using “regulations [that] are not up to the challenge posed by our changing climate.” She urged the department to require further water quality testing from developers.
“You have tools. You have the right to require testing of runoff to ensure that toxins…are not being discharged into our streams. You can require inspection after heavy rainfalls to ensure that the NPDES is working as designed, and instead of simply trying to control runoff after it's been created,” said Christman.
Emma Bast, an attorney with PennFuture, an environmental nonprofit that has taken an interest in warehouse developments in the Poconos, echoed Christman. She said the DEP has a duty under the Clean Streams Act to review stormwater permits more rigorously.
“I think it could look like requesting water quality sampling, requesting a more thorough characterization of the site. I think it could look like requesting better modeling of water flow…
We all went to grade school [where we learned] to show your math, to show your work. So, it’s not an advanced concept,” said Bast.
She added that she came to the stormwater hearing not as a PennFuture representative, but as a concerned Carbon County resident.
Kidder Township’s next meeting regarding Blue Ridge Real Estate is scheduled for Sept. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the township building. The Board of Supervisors will discuss proposed changes to Kidder’s zoning ordinance that would make it harder for developers to build warehouses in the township. Malloy called the ordinance “illegal” at a township meeting on July 29.