Throop officials have agreed to have Keystone Sanitary Landfill run a sewer line under its streets in order for water runoff to reach a sewage treatment plant.

THROOP, Pa. — Keystone Sanitary Landfill, which covers parts of Dunmore and Throop, is in the middle of an approval process for a controversial expansion that could extend the landfill’s life by more than 40 years.

Now, after a deal approved by Throop Borough Council this week, water runoff from the landfill will move from Dunmore to under the streets of Throop.

Through a dedicated line that will run from the landfill through Throop Borough and down to the Lackawanna River Basin Sewer Authority treatment plant.

“It’s a seventy-year deal. I mean, that’s seventy years. That’s a long time, and they’re not putting any limits on the amount of flow that’s going to affect from there to there; that’s a long distance,” said Pauline Willis, Throop.

The line will run right past Pauline Willis’ house on Edgar Street, as well as Janet Popovich’s house two doors down. “A lot of unknowns, and a lot of very, I want to say, shady answers. They’re very cloudy in their answers. ‘Yes, we’re going to take care of it.’ Well, show me that you’re going to take care of it,” said Popovich.

The women are concerned about how the installation of the line will affect the borough’s utility lines and the quality of the road.

Then there’s the issue of what’s in the landfill’s pipe. The water that runs through a landfill is called leachate, but Keystone officials tell Newswatch 16 that they pretreat the water before it ever leaves the landfill, and that water quality tests from a third-party engineering firm show that the water meets all safety limits for drinking water.

Throop agreed to let Keystone install its line and operate it for a fee of $200,000 per year.

“It’s not enough, it’s not enough for what the people where the line is going is going to go through,” said Popovich.

“I’d rather pay the tax,” said Willis.

That new fee is on top of a host fee Throop already receives from Keystone. Last year, the borough took in $3.2 million. But neighbors say when it comes to this new project, the cost is too high. 

“At this point I really don’t know what we can do at this point. I’m baffled,” added Willis.

There is no word yet on when construction on the landfill’s new sewer line could begin.Â