Septic waste dumped on Lenox farm

BY STACI WILSON

Owners of a Lenox Township farm face allegations by the state attorney general’s environmental crime unit that they allowed septic system waste to be regularly dumped on their land.

Farm owners Paul and Pauline Fallon were each charged with three misdemeanor counts of unlawful conduct by Robert Kelly, Special Agent, PA Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

According to documents filed in Clifford District Court, the Fallons received cash payments from Hallstead Sanitary Service, Inc. to dispose of septic and grease waste on the farm over a three year timeframe.

Felony and misdemeanor charges were lodged against Hallstead Sanitary owners David and Jennings Bryan Birtch III in 2014.

Birtch, along with his mother Betty Birtch, were both charged with unlawful conduct in 2012 and received probationary sentences in that case.

In the filing related to the Fallon farm, Hallstead Sanitary driver James Major told investigators that he had been ordered by David Birtch, Betty Birtch and Jennings Bryan Birtch III, (known as Bryan) to dump waste at the Lenox Twp. property, sometimes taking two to three loads per day over three years until May 2012.

According to court papers, Major said the Fallons were paid $100 a load to dump the septic waste on their farm. The money was given to the driver by both David and Jennings Bryan Birtch III.

Major told investigators the payments would be placed in the barn and that he personally gave money to both Paul and Pauline Fallon on many occasions.

Another Hallstead Sanitary driver, Allan Hinchcliffe, also told investigators that he was directed to dump septic waste at the Fallon farm, and that the dumping occurred every day and sometimes at night.

Hinchcliffe said the dumping continued until the Fallons sold their cows in 2012.

He also corroborated Major’s claims that both Bryan and David Birtch had given him money to give the Fallons.

The Department of Environmental Protection searched the Fallon property in June 2012. According to court documents, DEP personnel observed feminine hygiene products floating in a lagoon on the property and samples of the liquid in the body of water indicated the presence of human DNA.

The attorney general’s office initiated its investigation based upon a referral from DEP.

AG office investigators reviewed the driver route slips, obtained with a search warrant in 2013. The documents reviewed covered November 2011-June 2012. During that time period, Hallstead Sanitary went to the Fallon farm on at least 58 occasions and dumped septic waste.

DEP did not issue any permits to the Fallons, Hallstead Sanitary Service Inc. or its owners, or any other company to use the land as a solid waste processing facility or a solid waste disposal area.

According to DEP spokesperson Colleen Connolly, there is an open and active investigation by the Solid Waste Management Division in Wilkes-Barre and the agency is reviewing options regarding possible civil actions against the farm owners.

A preliminary hearing for both Paul and Pauline Fallon was set for April 21 in Clifford District Court in the criminal case.

Both David and Jennings Bryan Birtch waived preliminary hearings in 2014; they are scheduled to appear in the Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas for a pre-trial conference in May.