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NH Quarry Appeal Denial ‘a Victory’ for Public
Written by Bradley Schlegel, Staff Writer
2025-01-15

            Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by a Bucks County concrete supply company looking to mine 241 acres in New Hanover. The Red Hill lawyer representing a public advocacy group opposing the Gibraltar Rock quarry described the Jan. 7 decision as a major victory for his client and the community.

            According to Chris Mullaney, the decision preserves the environment and the health, safety and welfare of the township's residents.

            In a one-line statement, Pennsylvania's highest court denied a request by Silvi Materials to review a previous decision by the Commonwealth Court upholding a decision to rescind the permits issued previously by the Department of Environmental Protection to allow mining. They included a non-coal surface mining permit, a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit, and an authorization to mine permit. The permits were originally issued to Gibraltar Rock, Inc. in 2005.

            Jamie Gwynn, the township's manager, expressed the municipaluity's pleasure in the devision. In an email message received Tuesday, Gwynn claims the outcome reaffirms the diligent efforts of the community and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to protect the local environment and uphold the rule of law.

            "We remain committed to safeguarding the interests of our residents and ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come," the manager wrote.

            According to Mullaney, the plaintiff could be years away – if ever at all – from being able to acquire a permit. He said Monday that the applicant can't satisfy the permit criteria.

            Gibraltar must start the mining application process from the beginning if it ever expects to operate a quarry in the township, according to an email from the attorney. He wrote that it took them over 24 years to get to this point.

            Mullaney – who has represented Paradise Watchdogs, Ban the Quarry for 15 years during the proceedings – said he doesn't expect the mining permit to be reissued until contaminants are cleaned up on the property. He wrote that the group "will continue to vigorously fight any attempt by Gibraltar to operate a quarry in New Hanover."

            Litigation over zoning issues went on for several years and required permit extensions. Gibraltar Rock, Inc. also needed to seek renewal of the NPDES permit.  

            In 2011, the DEP discovered that an adjacent property, known as the Hoff VC Site, along Layfield Road, was contaminated with hazardous volatile organic compounds and semi-volatile organic compounds as well as other pollutants that seeped into the groundwater. That resulted in the contamination of several proximate residential wells, including the property previously owned by Swann Oil.

            The business received several citations in the early 1970s from the DEP's processor and the Pennsylvania Department of Health for illegal discharges of hazardous substances, including a chlorinated solvent, from a truck wash to an unnamed tributary of Swamp Creek. Swann Oil also had several oil and kerosene spills during its operation.

            Good Oil Company, which purchased the site in the early 1990s, removed many of the above-ground storage tanks and underground storage tanks improperly and punctured an underground storage tank while drilling a monitoring well. The DEP's Storage Tanks Corrective Program filed orders and liens against the business.

            In 2016, the state agency discovered a concrete vault on the Hoff VC site containing various hazardous compounds that had never been remediated.

            On July 2, 2018, after several years of back-and-forth legal actions, the DEP renewed Gibraltar Rock's surface mining and NPDES permits. An appeal by the township led to five days of hearings. Testimony from licensed geologists stated that pumping water at the quarry would draw contaminated groundwater at the Hoff VC Site eastward, in the direction of the quarry, and away from its generally westward flow.

            Three DEP employees testified and explained that the remediation of the concrete vault was completed and that the agency will continue sampling its monitoring wells at the site. But, they admitted that had they learned of the testimony of the licensed geologist's criticisms of the DEP's assessment, they would have required Gibraltar Rock to respond before rendering a decision.

             Mullaney first became involved in the case in 2009, when he attended a special meeting at the New Hanover Fire Company. Over the years, he has accumulated documentation that takes up more than six feet of shelf space.

            "I've learned more about mining, pollution and chemicals than I ever wanted to know," said Mullaney, who added that he's dedicated more than 1,000 hours over nearly 15 years to the case. "It's been very challenging. The litigation has been complex, and the regulations for mining and more than 25 chemicals are unique."


 

 

 

 

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