FINALLY: Checks in hand, North Schuylkill Landfill Association wind-up nears finish line
MICQUELYNN KAPUSCHINSKY / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Shenandoah Mayor Andrew Szczyglak, left, receives a check from David Briggs, president of the Northern Schuylkill Landfill Association on Oct. 22, 2025.
MAHANOY CITY – The checks are in hand and a multi-year saga is just about over. Members of the North Schuylkill Landfill Association received their share of more than $3 Million remaining from its operations.
Representatives from 16 of the 17 member municipalities met with NSLA officers at the American Legion in Mahanoy City Wednesday evening where checks were disbursed.
The distribution ends a more than two year effort to wind up the association which once maintained a landfill — later a transfer station — at Turkey Run. The landfill closed in the 1990’s and the transfer station was sold in the late 2010’s, leaving the NSLA in limbo.
Regulatory hurdles were nearly clear in 2023 and efforts to wind-up the organization began, quickly hitting snags both internally and externally.
The most notable snag came via a member municipality’s objection to four municipalities receiving a full share. Those municipalities’ status as full members was disputed.
MICQUELYNN KAPUSCHINSKY / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Municipal officials pose for a photo with their checks from the North Schuylkill Landfill Association. From L-R: David Briggs, Union Township; Cheryl Backo, Mahanoy Township; David R. Morgan, Ryan Township; Robert Leibensperger, Rush Township 
MICQUELYNN KAPUSCHINSKY / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – West Mahanoy Township Supervisor Tony Gladski receives a check from David Briggs, president of the North Schuylkill Landfill Association, on Oct. 22, 2025. 
MICQUELYNN KAPUSCHINSKY / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Mahanoy City Borough Councilman Mick Connolly receives a check from North Schuylkill Landfill Association President David Briggs on Oct. 22, 2025. 
MICQUELYNN KAPUSCHINSKY / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Municipal leaders pose for a photo.
In March of 2025, NSLA officers signaled a readiness to leave the monies in limbo. “The money sat in the bank for 34 years, so it can sit in the bank for another 34 years,” they said in a statement to the Sentinel.
Solicitors from each member municipality met to ink an agreement and a final release agreement was distributed in the summertime.
David Briggs, president of the landfill association and a Union Township supervisor, said he hopes each municipality will “be responsible” with the money.
“Everybody has their own situations, and they know what they need to use their money for,” Briggs said.
Each member municipality received just over $200,000 from the association.
Members include: Delano Township, East Union Township, Frackville, Gilberton, Girardville, Mahanoy City, Mahanoy Township, Ringtown, Rush Township, Ryan Township, Shenandoah, Union Township, West Mahanoy Township, McAdoo, Ashland, Gordon, and Butler Township.
All but Gilberton were represented at Wednesday’s disbursement.
The landfill association was set up in 1971 by 13 northern Schuylkill municipalities following the closure of a landfill near Gilberton, according to a history of the association written in 2019. Four municipalities joined later.
Micquelynn Kapsuchinsky contributed to this article.
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