An Open Letter to the People of the Pen Argyl School District and Slate Belt

April 28, 2017

To our colleagues, friends, and neighbors:

Since the Green Knight Economic Development Corporation (GKEDC) was created almost 20 years
ago, the organization has not focused much attention on getting the word out to the community about the
positive impact of its programs and projects. Weve never been very interested in receiving credit or
public accolades for the projects GKEDC has supported, but instead we have tried to remain focused on
working to improve our community. Through the ongoing public conversations regarding the proposed
Slate Belt Heat Recovery Center, its become clear that we need to do a better job of communicating
what the organizations mission is, and its positive impact on the community.

The GKEDC was formed in 1999 as a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation with the mission to stimulate
economic development and to support non-profit organizations providing social services within the
communities of the Pen Argyl School District (Pen Argyl, Wind Gap, and Plainfield Township, PA). All
of GKEDCs Board members reside in the Pen Argyl School District and we serve on the Board as
volunteers. No board member receives any monetary compensation for service on the Board and the
organization has no paid administrative staff.

GKEDC generates revenues to implement its mission by operating the landfill gas-to-energy plant
(known as the Green Knight Energy Center) adjacent to Waste Managements Grand Central Sanitary
Landfill in Plainfield Township. In many ways GKEDC operates as any other business each year
GKEDC incurs substantial expenses to operate the generating plant which supplies enough electricity to
serve several thousand homes 24 hours a day, and generates revenues by selling that energy to the
regional power grid. The difference between GKEDC and a for-profit business is that whereas a for-
profit business generates profits for its owners and/or shareholders, the profits generated by GKEDC
are re-invested in the local community through grants, scholarships, and economic and community
development projects.

Running the Green Knight Energy Center is an expensive proposition. Each year, hundreds of
thousands of dollars are spent operating the plant and maintaining and upgrading equipment. As is the
case with any business, GKEDC has good years and bad years financially, which influences the
amount of resources the organization has available to reinvest in the community. Lower oil and energy
prices have cut significantly into revenues over the last several years. GKEDCs bank requires it to
retain nearly $1 million in a reserve fund on top of the nearly $250,000 trust indenture GKEDC is
required to retain by our non-profit charter. All of this has unfortunately led to GKEDC having
relatively fewer resources available to support community projects in recent years.

Despite these challenges, we are extremely proud of the positive impact GKEDC has made,
including:

Slate Belt Industrial Center in Plainfield Township: GKEDC helped transform a 20-acre
brownfield property along Route 512 in Plainfield Township into a commercial/industrial site
that now houses a 56,000 square foot manufacturing facility owned and operated by Techo-
 Bloc. The plant is a sophisticated and technologically advanced paving stone and retaining wall
production facility and it employs about 80 people. GKEDC provided approximately $250,000
toward the development of the site and an additional approximately $125,000 in job creation
incentive funding. The project was so successful in terms of the level of cooperation between
multiple entities that it received the Governor's Award for Local Government Excellence.

Slate Belt YMCA: Completed in January 2015, this project involved the redevelopment of
the former Scottys Fashions headquarters building in Pen Argyl into a health and wellness center
and associated studio space for fitness classes. The GKEDC provided $1.1 million to match a $1
million state grant to develop the approximately $2.7 million project.

Coordinated Health: Recognizing the need for additional health care services in our
community, GKEDC provided $250,000 to incentivize the location of Coordinated Health at their
location near the Route 512 Interchange of Route 33 in Plainfield Township.

Green Knight Industrial Park II: GKEDC worked tirelessly with PADEP, purchased
and is currently proposing to develop an industrial park at the former JH Beers slate quarry and
tire dump along Male Road and State Route 33 in Wind Gap and Plainfield Township.
Infrastructure construction should begin in late 2017. The industrial park is projected to create
approximately 280 jobs, generate approximately $300,000 annually in additional tax revenue and
leverage more than $10,000,000 in private investment at the site.

Grants to Local Non-Profits: GKEDC has distributed over $750,000 in grants to more than
40 non-profit organizations including over $100,000 to Families First, over $100,000 to the Blue
Mountain Community Library, and $30,000 to the Pen Argyl Parks and Athletic Association to
repair the slate roof on the historic carousel at Weona Park. Other organizations whove received
support include Wind Gap Borough Park Board, Sullivan Trail Sertoma, volunteer fire and
ambulance companies, local Boy Scout troops and athletic organizations, and local police.

Scholarship Program: GKEDC has awarded approximately $200,000 in scholarships to over

50 Pen Argyl High School and Faith Christian High School seniors who are going on to a four-year
college or university. GKEDC is accepting scholarship applications for the current round through
May 15 (visit www.gkedc.com for more info).

In line with GKEDCs mission to create jobs and support economic development in the community,
we have long envisioned a scenario in which the significant amount of waste heat generated by the
Energy Center might be harnessed for a productive industrial purpose. The recently proposed Slate Belt
Heat Recover Center would accomplish just that the heat generated by the plant would be used by
Synagro to manufacture Class A pelletized fertilizer and renewable green fuel suitable for industrial
kilns and other similar applications. Class A biosolids must meet very tough standards, contain no
detectible levels of pathogens, meet strict vector attraction reduction requirements and low levels metals
content (USEPA 2016).

The project would create 40 temporary construction jobs and 16 permanent jobs. Furthermore,
GKEDC would be compensated for providing the waste heat, thereby increasing the amount of funding
the organization would have available to give back to the community through grants, scholarships, and
community and economic development projects. GKEDCs role in the project is not a secret. As with
any negotiation between private corporations, we have and will continue to maintain an appropriate
level of confidentiality throughout the negotiations. To do anything otherwise would be a serious breach
of standard business practices that would not be tolerated (or even considered) at virtually any private

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corporation anywhere. What we can say is, just as with the sale of the power generated by the Energy
Center, 100% of the profit earned by GKEDC via the Heat Recovery Center will be used to fund
grants, scholarships and economic projects like the ones detailed earlier in this letter.

As members of this community, we care as much as anyone about keeping our air, soil, and water
clean, and protecting the health of our families. As such, we have conducted significant research and due
diligence into this particular use and the potential impacts on our community. We also believe that the
representatives of Synagro have been extremely open and forthright with the community about the
nature of the facility, the science involved with their processes, and the potential impacts of the
companys operation (which primarily consist of additional truck traffic that would be expected with
many types of industrial development). We believe in the environmental permitting and regulatory
framework established by PADEP for such facilities and in-depth scientific reviews and
recommendations from the USEPA and the National Academy of Sciences. Based on all of this, we are
confident that the benefits to our community via new jobs, private investment, increased tax revenue,
and additional funds to support further community and economic development outweigh any negative
impacts. We would not be involved in the project if we believed otherwise.

We have been disappointed by the response of some in our community to the proposed Heat
Recovery Center and the role of the GKEDC in its development. We understand that not everyone will
support the project, nor will everyone necessarily support every decision made by the GKEDC in how to
best implement its mission. We respect everybodys right to express their opinions. Our hope is that
future public discourse on the project and the GKEDC will be based on facts and solid information.
Were committed to doing our part to make sure the facts are available, and hope this letter will serve as
a positive step in raising the level of communication.

Sincerely,

Board of Directors,
Green Knight Economic Development Corporation

Carlton Snyder (President) John Cuono (Board Member)

Wind Gap Pen Argyl

Robert Cornman (Vice-President) Jim Policeli, PE (Board Member)

Plainfield Township Plainfield Township

Peter Albanese (Treasurer) Larry Feller (Board Member)

Plainfield Township Pen Argyl

Steve Hurni (Secretary) John Goffredo (Board Member)

Plainfield Township Plainfield Township