Several Steel City residents chided Lower Saucon Township Council members and officials for spending money on long-planned improvements to their neighborhood park, which they say is virtually unusable due to a bad odor that’s become pervasive in the area.
Steel City Park in Steel City, Lower Saucon Township
The comments were made at council’s March 18 meeting, and provoked a discussion about the odor, which has been a frequent topic of conversation and under investigation in recent months.
“Who is going to go to the park when you can’t even go outside…?” resident Sonja Miller asked council.
“You have this stench,” she said. “It makes no sense—especially with the park. Why put all this money into it when nobody’s going to be enjoying it?”
Kareen Bleam, a 43-year Steel City resident who’s spoken out about the odor in the past, told council the smell has gotten worse over the last two years.
The protocol when the unidentified odor is detected is to report it by calling the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), but residents are growing weary with a process that seems to yield little in the way of results.
“They can’t even smell the smell. They can’t even catch the odor,” Bleam said of DEP staff, who she said don’t always respond to odor complaints and can take a long time to arrive when they do.
She added that her quality of life has diminished because she can no longer spend time in a sunroom in her home–something that she used to enjoy doing.
Bleam also questioned what the health effects of the smell might be, and said she’s afraid her 13-year-old granddaughter will have health problems 10 years from now because of it.
Township manager Jack Cahalan said the DEP has addressed the question about possible health effects with studies that are posted on the township’s website.
Resident Gene Boyer took an informal poll of council members, asking them if they have smelled the odor and–if not–if they believe it exists.
Councilwoman Priscilla deLeon, who lives in Steel City, said she knows it exists because she has smelled it.
Councilman David Willard and council president Ron Horiszny both said they accept that the smell exists, but vice president Tom Maxfield declined to answer Boyer’s question, which Boyer said sets a bad example as a candidate for re-election to council.
DeLeon said she would like for more residents to call DEP to report the smell, and questioned why township police officers don’t call to report it if they are on patrol in Steel City or along Applebutter Road and smell something.
“They really should be monitoring and documenting the times of day, and what roads they smell it (on),” deLeon said.
She added that she is “not happy with the length of time” it is taking the DEP to investigate the smell.
The investigation is happening as DEP considers an application by the nearby IESI Bethlehem Landfill to expand within its zoned footprint; an expansion that would extend the lifespan of the facility by at least several years.
The following is the procedure for reporting a bad odor in the Steel City area to DEP (this information was originally posted on the township website on May 15, 2014):
Procedure for Reporting Odors Detected in Applebutter/Ringhoffer Road/Steel City Area of Township
If odors are detected by individuals in the Applebutter/Ringhoffer Road/Steel City area of the Township, the following steps should be taken:
1. If odors are detected, individuals can call the toll-free PA DEP Complaint Line at 1-866-255-5158. Press “2” to be directed to the Northeast Regional Office complaint representative/answering service.
2. If a gas odor (natural gas, landfill gas) is detected in someone’s home or along Applebutter Road/Ringhoffer Road/Steel City, the individual should immediately call 911 and the Township Police and emergency services personnel will respond to the scene.
3. Emergency services personnel will contact the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) if their assistance is needed.
