Residents of local townships came to State College Tuesday night to issue concerns about what they say could be the largest landfill east of the Mississippi.
People Protecting Communities (PPC), a growing regional coalition of concerned residents, gave a presentation to the Penn State Environmental Society (PSES) about a local landfill proposal and the group's opposition.
Twenty-five students attended the presentation, during which PPC showed a slideshow about the project, explaining the landfill's threat to the environment.
"We're tired of outsiders degrading the area," said Michele Barbin, PPC member and resident of Snow Shoe. "It's incompatible with the 'wilderness playground' that we really are."
The landfill project affects Rush Township and Snow Shoe Borough, both part of Centre County.
As part of PSES's goal to raise awareness about environmental issues, the club asked PPC to discuss the landfill conflict. PSES President John Stevenson (junior-community environments and awareness) saw a flier for the PPC's interest in the landfill and could not believe how close the project was to Penn State, he said.
"Awareness is a large amount of what we do, and I'm really happy to see this much community involvement," he said.
Katie Gloede (sophomore-geography), who has been a part of PSES since freshman year, understood the frustration of the local townships.
"I completely agree with why they're against it and not even noticing that people live there," she said.
PPC has also been asked by Penn State professors to present various environmental issues. Some students, like Ben Matthews (senior-civil engineering), attended for an extra credit opportunity in a class.
"I'm neither for or against it," he said. "There's always two sides to everything."
The landfill project is still fighting for permission, and in the meantime PPC is working to raise awareness to local citizens, even if it means going door to door to hundreds of houses, as Rush Township Supervisor Mike Savage did.
After presenting, Savage was surprised at the amount of concern and interest from the students.
"I am extremely impressed by the turnout and the questions that students asked," he said. "They seem very knowledgeable on the subject."
PPC is looking to get as much involvement as possible from citizens, hoping to bring the landfill project to an end, said PPC member Jenn Shufran.
"Because of the strong group of citizens that has worked very hard, this project is still in limbo," Shufran said. "They may get themselves out of limbo, but it's not gonna be without a fight."
