The Alliance For A Clean Environment

P.O. Box 3063   Stowe, PA  19464

(610) 326-6433     

The Alliance For A Clean Environment is asking for your help on behalf of all the children in the Greater Pottstown Area.  

Greater Pottstown Area children are being disproportionately harmed.  We believe the Pottstown Landfill gas has played a major role in shocking childhood cancer statistics around the landfill site.  Childhood cancer statistics have soared above the national, state, and tri county averages since the late 1980’s.  Thousands of children live and attend 29 schools and day care centers within 3 miles of the Pottstown Landfill.  These children breathe the top 10% of the most carcinogenic and unhealthy air in the nation.   Still, Conshohocken DEP has continually ignored federal health based standards and all the documented evidence of harm, in air pollution permitting decisions for the Pottstown Landfill.  

The PA Cancer Registry revealed that from 1995 to 1999 childhood cancer statistics around the Pottstown Landfill were a shocking 92.5 % above the national average and almost 100 % higher than the state and tri county averages.   CDC recently verified that the kinds of chemicals released into our air and water from the Pottstown Landfill get into the bodies of humans.  March, 2003, EPA proposed tougher guidelines for evaluating cancer risks to children, confirming that children under 2 and fetuses can be at 10 times greater risk of getting cancer from some chemical exposures than adults, and that children ages 3 to 15 are at 3 times greater risk than adults. 

Greater Pottstown Area children are facing a chemical plague and need your help.

Please help with the following:

1. Request that an Environmental Impact Statement be prepared for the Greater Pottstown Area.

2. Demand a moratorium on all Pottstown Landfill pollution permits, until the Environmental Impact Statement can be prepared, reported to the community, and analyzed by EPA, DEP, ACE, and community officials and interested citizens.

3. Based on all the information contained in the attached ACE letter to DEP, we ask that you oppose this permit amendment and all Pottstown Landfill expansion permits.  We believe an EIS will support our position to close the Pottstown Landfill as soon as possible.

4.  Request that DEP provide ACE with all requested information under the PA Public Right to Know, as soon as possible, and that DEP waive any and all fees for that public information, which ACE plans to share with our community.