The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a temporary six month extension of Keystone Sanitary Landfill’s (KSL) existing operating permit for its landfill facility in the boroughs of Dunmore and Throop in Lackawanna County.
This is not a renewal of the operating permit. This action will only extend KSL’s existing operating permit until October 6, 2025. No other operation or construction change has been approved. KSL’s current operating permit was set to expire on April 6, 2025.
The extension will allow sufficient time for DEP to evaluate the KSL renewal application considering a recent Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) decision issued on April 1, 2025, regarding the appeal of KSL’s Phase III Expansion. The department will also consider the effectiveness of KSL’s odor control and leachate management measures that were required under a March 29, 2024, Consent Order and Agreement, among other things. KSL submitted a timely application for renewal, which was accepted for review by the department in April of 2024.
Additionally, DEP recently received a ruling from the EHB regarding the appeal of KSL’s 2021 permit to expand the landfill. That ruling identified operational issues that Keystone is required to mitigate, such as odor control and leachate storage, that were also specifically addressed in the March 29, 2024 Consent Order and Agreement.
In January 2024, DEP issued a Notice of Violation to KSL for failing to control odors from the leachate lagoons at its facility in Dunmore and Throop Boroughs. DEP’s investigation into residents’ complaints revealed that the odors rise to the level of a malodor after being detected by DEP staff at three residences in Throop Borough. A malodor is confirmed if a landfill-associated odor is detected on a complainant’s property, with the complainant, by Department staff and is determined to be objectionable to the public.
Published May 2025
