Rutters has not yet received a permit from DEP to build a truck stop next to Old Crow Wetland in Huntingdon. It is likely that they will, and the coalition is raising funds to appeal a DEP stormwater permit. Our lawyer is working for us pro bono but we’ll need to pay experts who will testify for us at an appeal with the Environmental Hearing Board, so we are raising money for a legal fund. See below for how to donate.
We have two avenues to stop this project: DEP and Smithfield township. On the first Tuesday of each month, members of the Coalition to Save Old Crow Wetland voice opposition to Rutters’ plans at Smithfield township supervisors’ meetings. We point out how Rutters’ plans do not meet Smithfield township’s ordinances. The next meeting will be on January 2, 2024 at 6:00 pm at 202 South 13th Street, Huntingdon, PA 16652. Any member of the public may attend and speak at these meetings.
Local media calls Rutters’ project a “convenience store” because that is how it is labelled in DEP and township documents. Reporters claim they must use that term, but it is misleading because the project is a seven-acre truck stop, one of the largest in central Pennsylvania, open 24 hours a day. A large Rutters is being built in Blair county now and another is planned for Centre county.
Coalition members have spoken with the Maxatawny Community Coalition near Kutztown PA. Since a Rutters was recently built there, traffic congestion in the area has become worse. Residents are concerned about gambling machines and the sale of alcohol at the Rutters, as well as many warehouses now proposed for the area. A member of the Maxatawny group wrote:
“Even though Rutters calls themselves a convenience store, we consider them to be a truck stop due to the massive amount of parking they have for tractor trailers in the back parking lot and the amount of diesel gas pumps on the property. Trucks park overnight on the property which is against our ordinances and many of them are idling non-stop regardless of any laws against it. These types of facilities should be up on the Interstates and NOT in communities! - A.F.
The Coalition held a Non-Violent Direct Action Training session in December, 2023, led by Michael Badges-Canning and Penn Garvin (NVDA training facilitators) in Huntingdon, Pa.
If you want to prevent traffic, pollution, and related problems in Huntingdon and to prevent harm coming to the beautiful Old Crow Wetland, please join the Coalition.
To donate to the legal fund, send a check made out to Coalition to Save Old Crow Wetland to: Coalition to Save Old Crow Wetland, P.O. Box 7, Huntingdon PA 16652, or donate to fundrazr.com/saveoldcrow Any donation would be much appreciated.
Join our Facebook group: Coalition to Save Old Crow wetland (Huntingdon PA) .