An Akron, Ohio-based company has dropped plans for a Luzerne County plastics recycling plant because the landowner changed their deal, the company says.
Alterra planned the plant for 42 Tomhicken Road in Sugarloaf Twp.
The move comes as Alterra said the landowner intends to market to a data center project.
Opponents celebrate Alterra's withdrawn plans
Opponents celebrated the news in a statement issued by Beyond Plastics, a Bennington, Vermont-based group that opposes the expansion of single-use plastics nationwide and aided the opposition here.
“This is a big win for our area,” said Annie Vinatieri, a member of Luzerne County Community Action Coalition. “The people have spoken, and our voices have been heard. We will continue to fight for clean air, water and a safer, healthier future for Luzerne County.”
The plant would have processed about 100,000 tons a year of plastic discarded in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to a July Luzerne County Council resolution.
Using a process known as pyrolysis – heating the plastic to extreme temperatures – it would have turned that into about 80,000 tons a year of a fuel product.
Opponents said the plant would pollute the air with toxic chemicals and could irreversibly harm water supplies and damage soil.
The County Council resolution cited the potential environmental dangers, but the council tabled action.
Alterra: Withdrawal due to changes proposed by landowner
In an Aug. 8 letter to the township supervisors, Alterra Energy Chief Development Officer Bilal Khan wrote that the company won’t pursue the Sugarloaf land anymore because of “a sudden and material change ... proposed by the landowner.”
Alterra expected to lease the land, but the landowner “recently shifted” to only selling it, Khan wrote.
That made “the site unworkable within our current development model and timeline,” he wrote.
“Additionally, the landowner now believes the property’s value is significantly elevated due to its proximity to a proposed transmission line and indicated that he intends to market to a data center project,” Khan wrote.
Efforts to identify the landowner were not immediately successful.
County never received application from Alterra
Alterra officials introduced themselves and basic information about their plans at a March meeting of the township board of supervisors.
They never followed up with a formal land development application, so the township never received plans to review, despite residents’ pressure to act, township manager Liz Tolan said Tuesday.
“We never had anything in front of us,” Tolan said.
