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Growing ash pile
brings health
By JULIA DANNER YORK, Pa. – A pile of incinerator ash at American Ash Recycling has grown to 300,000 tons. This is almost five times larger than what the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) allowed in 1998. Along with concerns about the size of the pile, residents around the company are wondering if recent health problems are a result of the potentially poisonous ash traveling near them. Michael Helfrich, president of the Codorous Creek Improvement Partnership, is very aware of what types of chemicals the ash is carrying. “We have two major concerns, dioxins and mercury,” Helfrich said. Helfrich said that the incinerator ash already contains harmful elements and the DEP is telling the community and the city council that they are treating the ash before it sits in the pile. “Treating the project does not make the toxins go away,” Helfrich said. “The DEP is trying to say that the toxins are disappearing.” Each time the ash goes back to the incinerator to be treated, it ends up coming back with even more unhealthy chemicals. Helfrich said that phosphoric acid is added but it doesn’t break down the elements and it is carcinogenic. “You could pick up something potentially cancerous,” he said. The ash comes from York County’s incinerator and is then used as fill for construction jobs. The reason the pile has grown so fast and so large is because the company is having trouble selling the fill to construction companies. They have been putting it under buildings and parking lots to get rid of it. Helfrich thinks it’s because the construction companies are becoming more aware that the ash is potentially harmful, not only because of the make up of the elements, but because ash is not a reliable source in replace of landfill. “Ash expands and contracts,” Helfrich said. This means that the parking lot in the York Galleria Mall, which has ash under it, could eventually collapse. The ash is not sturdy enough and construction companies have used it because it is cheaper than landfill. The Weis Markets store located on Roosevelt Avenue, just up the street from the ash company, has at least 200 tons of ash underneath the parking lot. That area used to be wetlands, which makes it even more dangerous to have ash packed in. Helfrich said that 20 years after the ash has been used, the area will probably have to be redeveloped and he’s wondering who will pay for it then. The DEP has told the city council that they are trying to get rid of the pile by selling it, but no one wants to buy. The DEP has also tried to assure the council and the community that the pile poses no risk; although they cannot prove that fact without any test. “We don’t feel safety issues have been clarified,” Helfrich said. “The DEP has not stepped up for our protection.” John Krueger, manager of the DEP’s Waste Management program, appeared at the November 7th meeting and told the council that it is too expensive to test the substance to see if it is carcinogenic. Helfrich had just received an estimate that morning and told the agent that he could get a test for between $700 and $1200 and the cheapest he found was $600. “That’s a lot of money to some people,” Krueger said. Helfrich believes that the reason the DEP has let the pile grow so much is because it’s considered to be recycled material and there is a recycling goal for each county. York’s goal is to recycle 35 percent of trash and right now people only recycle 10 percent. York County recycles 83 percent of its materials. The city council, along with Helfrich, contacted lawyers and experts in Washington, D.C. and the case may start to develop. They have been working with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. who is one of the most prominent environmental lawyers in the world. The York Daily Record said that The Weinberg Group’s report also stated that American Ash failed to test for dioxins, a carcinogen, in the groundwater. The DEP said that the ash is supposedly treated so that lead, mercury and arsenic don’t escape. Because the DEP is being so secretive and suspicious about testing the ash for harmful substances, Helfrich said he is willing to go door-to-door to collect two dollars from about 600 residents in order to pay for the test. “Hopefully, most residents would throw in five or ten dollars,” Helfrich said. Dale Shue, who lives just east of the ash company, said he would definitely contribute some money for the test. “This is another prime example of the government not doing their job,” Shue said. “They are supposed to protect us and keep us aware of environmental concerns, but when there is a problem, they make excuses for not taking care of it.” All stories in this magazine are the intellectual property of the individual
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