EAST HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP, Pa. —
Residents in East Huntingdon Township continue to make their frustration heard regarding a project in their backyard.
Sandhill Materials is supposed to build an asphalt plant near Route 119. The land the proposed plant would sit on is already being developed.
On Thursday morning, the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Authority noted public comments about the project.
“It is incredibly disheartening that this was done under the radar,” said Sarah Kern, of Mount Pleasant Township. “The community didn’t know about it until they were already clearing land. Why doesn’t the community’s opinion matter more?”
The development of the property along Sand Hill Road has been going on for nearly a month. While that’s been going on, those who live in the area have been bringing up several concerns.
“What’s concerning is the amount of traffic we’re already experiencing,” Kern said. “There are no longitudinal studies that show how this might impact our health, our kids’ health, and the local farmlands. If it smells terrible, nobody’s going to want to buy that.”
“The emissions, the dust, the noise, the impact on wildlife and the impact on our kids. I’m a teacher,” said Becca Huff, who lives close to the site. “We had to say something to someone. It’s just not fair that none of the community voices were considered in making this decision.”
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The development authority originally was slated to gift a $10 million tax bond for the project but halted it after the public outcry.
The bond is normally used for projects with economic upside.
However, farmers in the area, like Sandhill Berries owners Richard and Susan Lynn, don’t see it that way.
“Within weeks, we were getting debris over our plants and the farm itself,” Richard Lynn said. “Our property goes within 50 feet of [the site]. It’s directly adjacent to it. When they were talking about schools, they are in the direct flow of the wind from that direction.”
“We do not know what could possibly happen to our harvest because we don’t have any data,” Susan Lynn said. “We have devoted our lives to protecting this piece of ground and improving it. That possibility of its future continuance is really put into question with having this plant. It’s not enough to just say, ‘Oh, it’s a state-of-the-art plant. It’ll be great.'”
Sandhill Materials is in the process of gaining project approval from the Department of Environmental Protection. Residents believe one reason the site is being prepared without notice is the lack of local zoning laws in East Huntingdon.
“That’s exactly why zoning exists,” Richard said. “It doesn’t exist here, to the level of other places; we’re taken advantage of. These companies can come in and sort of avoid the zoning restrictions that they may have in other places.”
While county officials said not much can stop the project’s construction at this point, those in the community are holding out hope.
“All of us are here as a united community to say we bought our homes here, we raised our families here, we laid our roots here, and none of us chose this life,” Huff said. “Why are you imposing it on us?”
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