WAL-MART OK’D IN SHNECKSVILLE, PA

Wal-Mart complex on 309 OK’d [The Morning Call (Pa.)]

A plan for a Wal-Mart and four other stores in Schnecksville was approved Wednesday by North Whitehall township supervisors on the condition the developer first check for chemical contamination on the site.

Supervisors voted unanimously affirming that Wal-Mart Stores East, owner of the 40-acre site along Route 309, could use the land for a planned commercial development.

The supervisors also required that Wal-Mart show satisfactory proof that safety hazards, including arsenic, lead, dioxin, pesticide and herbicide contamination on the former orchard land are within safe and acceptable government levels before the township issues a building permit.

Supervisors said the levels must meet state or federal standards, whichever apply.

An elevated level of arsenic was detected in one of several samples at the site of the state’s Old Packhouse Road relocation project. The roadwork is directly adjacent to Wal-Mart’s proposed development site, where decades ago the land was planted with fruit trees and sprayed with chemicals.

Route 309 residents Brendan and Molly Reilly-Cygan, the parents of two young girls, repeated their health concerns to supervisors at the start of meeting Wednesday. Molly Reilly-Cygan asked if it was ethical for Wal-Mart to build on contaminated land. She said people come before money.

Supervisors said they felt it was prudent to attach a condition regarding soil safety.

‘’I feel we have to do something about it,’’ Supervisor Terry Stoudt said.

The township has been in contact with the Environmental Protection Agency about possible soil contamination in Schnecksville, but no action has been taken. While roadwork continues, contractors for PennDOT are spraying the dirt to keep airborne dust at bay.

Supervisors also voted to require the developer to post financial security for traffic improvements. Full-service signals are proposed along Route 309 at Levans and Old Packhouse roads. Supervisors also decided that each of the five proposed lots—the Wal-Mart store and four smaller sites—must undergo individual land development reviews, where specific construction and layout items, such as landscaping, will be scrutinized.

Posted by Tony Calero on Friday, July 18, 2008

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