A public Schuylkill County commissioners’ meeting Wednesday exploded with emotions Wednesday as people implored officials to help them in their quests to stop the expansion of a landfill they say would amplify an already hazardous situation.

Commissioners said they’ll do what they can, but there are limits as to what they can control.

The meeting opened with retired Port Carbon District Judge David A. Plachko making an impassioned plea to stop the BRADS (Blythe Recycling and Demolition Site) landfill, along Burma Road in Blythe Township, from expanding closer to his home town of St. Clair.

“I stand here today to voice my strong opposition to the sale of land by the Reading Anthracite company to the BRADS landfill for their expansion towards St. Clair, 177 acres, moving the dump toward St. Clair,” he said. “After everything St. Clair has endured with BRADS, it’s painfully obvious that the only people backing this project and sale are those that are willing to trade the St. Clair community’s health and future for financial gain, and those whose campaigns they fund. I ask you to stand with us in opposition through this sale and expansion.”

Plachko gave the commissioners each a copy of the petition he’s circulating to stop the expansion, urging them to sign it and file it with the Clerk of Courts office “and stand with us. Or, ignore it and stand against us.”

It was unclear Wednesday whether commissioners would sign the petition, but Commissioners Chairman Larry L. Padora Jr. said all three have been against it.

He told Plachko “it is a court issue. It needs to be filed with the Court of Common Pleas. It’s not a county commissioner issue. It is a private sale.

“But also, this county has been on record as opposed to (BRADS) Landfill from the very beginning, when they went for a major expansion,” Padora said. “The last time, the county wrote a letter in opposition of that expansion. Private land sales we’re not involved with, but if they go for an expansion, that stance is not going to change in any way.”

He said county officials would be meeting the state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Jessica Shirley on May 27 or 28.

“We are bringing this up with them,” he said.

Plachko said there have been multiple violations since the landfill opened in 2019.

If the expansion is permitted, Plachko said, the dump would extend to about a half mile from populated areas of the borough, including the park, the Little League field, the football field and the baseball field, where he said that not too long ago, the coach had to take players off the field after their eyes and throats began to burn from hydrogen sulfide emanating from the landfill.

“It’s a shameful, disgusting and appalling maneuver that’s being attempted here in Schuylkill County,” he said.

“This fight is real, and I’m ready for a free-for-all,” Plachko said.

Owned by Waste Connections, the landfill has raised residents’ ire since soon after it began operations.

St. Clair last year adopted a resolution opposing its continued operation.

“The BRADS Landfill’s ongoing operation have resulted in continuing hydrogen sulfide emissions, increased heavy truck traffic on community roadways such as Burma Road, and persistent environmental and public health burdens that adversely affect nearby residents, local schools and businesses,” the resolution states.

St. Clair resident Dr. Erin Portland also spoke out against the expansion.

She gave commissioners a packet of information, “including DEP enforcement actions, inspection reports and recent developments. I will be providing this to you in a hard copy today and also via email. This matter is not speculation. This is about documented facts. In August of 2025, DEP issued a formal notice in violation to the BRADS Landfill for exceeding hydrogen sulfide limits multiple times. These weren’t minor exceedances levels,” she said.

“Levels reached as high as 11,500 parts per million by volume, far above the permitted limit of 3,670. DEP itself classified these violations as unlawful conduct and a public nuisance,” Portland said. “Then just a few months later, in November of 2025, DEP conducted another inspection. The report identified additional violations, including operating outside the permit conditions, failure to properly maintain landfill cover and failure to establish required vegetation conditions that contribute to erosion and instability. And currently, the same inspection also conducted detected landfill gas odors along the Burma Road and confirmed the presence of hydrogen sulfide using monitoring equipment.

“So this is just not about past violations, it’s ongoing operational and environmental concerns. Now at the same time, we are learning that approximately 3,000 tons of artificial turf, approximately the weight of 500 elephants, a synthetic material that contains PFAs known as forever chemicals, is being transported for disposal at this very facility,” she said.

Further, she said, the landfill is within 1,000 feet of Wolf Creek, which supplies drinking water.

Efforts to reach BRADS Landfill officials were unsuccessful Wednesday.

DEP in January extended the landfill’s operating permit through April 30. The facility has applied for a renewal to allow it to continue to accept waste, include asbestos that can’t be easily crumbled, for another 10 years.

BRADS has also applied to double its daily maximum tonnage to 3,000 tons a day from the current 1,500, and to expand its acceptance hours to 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. from the current 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and from 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

DEP has yet to decide either application.