Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners at Monday’s meeting said it is calling on state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18th, and representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to come before the board jointly to say, on the record, whether or not the township has jurisdiction to inspect the materials being dumped into a former quarry owned by Coplay Aggregates.

Commissioner Philip Ginder said the township should consider asking a representative from the state Attorney General’s office to be present at the meeting as well, in order that the simmering issue of the township’s role in inspecting clean and regulated fill can be resolved.

“We’ve got to go up another level. Get a real legal opinion,” Ginder said.

A letter from Boscola to Chris Feidler, of Foxdale Drive, sent Feb. 28 and made public at the commissioners meeting March 6, stated the township has the authority to inspect materials going into the quarry off Chestnut Street and West Coplay Road. This is in sharp contrast with the DEP’s position on the subject - that it has the sole jurisdiction in granting such a license and inspection, thus leaving the township out of the loop.

Whitehall Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. said a letter will be sent to Boscola, seeking her response on the details of the letter sent to Feidler.

“I am tired of people giving us different answers,” commissioners Vice President Dennis Hower said. “How long are we going to let this go on? Can we speed this up and get an answer?”

Hozza said there are 300 tri-axle trucks arriving daily, most of them from New Jersey, dumping fill into the Coplay Aggregates quarry. Feidler said a convoy of trucks he witnessed in the last few days was going to the quarry as early as 6:30 a.m.

Residents of the housing development in North Coplay, where Feidler resides, have been complaining over the past couple of years of excessive dust coating their residences and vehicles and are worried over health issues. Some believe the dust is originating from fill from UGI excavations brought into a privately owned site behind their homes.

Commissioners President Phillips Armstrong confirmed to The Press that a meeting is being sought with Boscola and DEP officials. “[The meeting] should be open to the public,” Commissioner Linda Snyder said, suggesting the session not be limited just to officials. “We have nothing to hide.”

Hozza said the issue goes back several years when materials from the World Trade Center in New York City were brought to the quarry,

“Look back to what it is morphed into now,” Hozza said.