Phil Kaufman/Michael Sauers
September 16, 2025
Where to begin? This is a reasonable question when you’re talking about Phil Kaufman. He is a man of enormous courage, intellect and grit. For several decades he spoke truth to power and to the citizens of the Greater Hazleton Area (GHA). He set a high bar for those individuals, including myself, who questioned the paradigm for economic development set out by CAN-DO (Community Area New Development Organization) in the GHA. After months of interviewing Mr. Kaufman via phone and written communications, speaking to other community activists and my own interactions, I have a starting point.
In the 1970’s, one of the most pressing issues in the environmental community was the proposal and construction of PP&L’s Nuke Plant in Salem Township near Berwick. This gave rise to Mr. Kaufman organizing Citizens Against Hazardous and Nuclear Waste (CAH&NW). They pointed out the obvious; corporate welfare, cost overruns, high level radioactive waste, unneeded power at that time, background radiation and difficulty getting accident insurance. He was vehemently opposed as was I. As a member of the Susquehanna Alliance, I helped organize within our community and filed several formal complaints against PP&L’s application for a rate increase.
It was about this time (1970-1985) that Mr. Kaufman began speaking truth to power and to the community regarding several explosive environmental issues. At the top of the list was the Kawecki Berylco Industries plant that was recruited to Hazleton by the Chamber of Commerce, principally Dr. Edgar Dessen. Dessen, a radiologist, was on the Board of Directors at both PP&L and Kawecki Berylco. The Beryllium Plant, operational from 1957 to 1980, turned out to be an environmental catastrophe and a nightmare for many workers. Mr. Kaufman and many others, including Dr. Herman H. Feissner spoke out in opposition. They did so directly to Dr. Dessen who had serious conflicts of interest (Board Member at Kaweki Berylco and paid by KB to administer X-ray examinations to workers) which he admitted to in a 1974 article that appeared in the New Yorker magazine written by acclaimed journalist, Homer Bigart.
Kaufman points to a study conducted/published by University of Pennsylvania Professor Dan Rose. He demonstrates how CAN-DO pursued a recruitment strategy partially based on polluting industries rejected by other communities. This was documented in his book, Energy Transition and the Local Community: A Theory of Society Applied to Hazleton, published in 1981. Beryllium was the tip of the spear with others to come.
Also at this time, Mr. Kaufman, along with other community activists, started calling attention to the illegal dumping of hazardous and carcinogenic wastes in what became known as the Hazleton City Landfill. This landfill was never legally permitted. Mr. Kaufman produced sworn testimony from a landfill worker who witnessed the dumping and an extensive list of chemical wastes that came from a who’s who list of local and out of state industries. This landfill sits directly above abandoned mine workings which are flooded to various levels depending upon rainfall. These abandoned mine workings run under the City of Hazleton/area and some of them eventually drain to the Susquehanna River via the Jeddo Mine Tunnel and other mine drainage tunnels. The Nescopeck Creek is dead. This landfill is a festering problem to this very day. Covered over with hazardous river dredge sludge, it remains.
Additionally, Kaufman began educating the public about the serious statistics regarding health. Over the length of several decades and up until now he cites data from the American Cancer Society, Multiple Sclerosis Society, The Lupus Foundation of PA, The Alzheimers Foundation, The Department of Health, Penn State University, Bureau of Community Health System, etc. They show consistently higher rates than national levels on cancers, lupus, MS, alzheimers, down syndrome, birth defects and asthma.
Adding fuel to the fire, Mr.Kaufman introduced the community to the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory site. This site listed/lists GHA industries along with the names and totals of hazardous and carcinogenic substances released to air, water and soil. At the time, as documented by Kaufman, Hazleton was in the top 10 zip codes in the nation for cancer and that a correlation could be drawn between the carcinogenic releases from local industries to the diseases.
Kaufman is quick to point out that, in addition to CAN-DO, all of this was well known to all elected officials from local to federal levels. He made sure that all town/city councils, school boards, county officials, state representatives/senators, and U.S. Congressmen/Senators were privy to this information. Start in 1960 and recount who was in power. Only a handful said/did anything other than give lip service. Any and all actions regarding this horrendous situation occurred as a result of area grassroots environmental/community/economic development groups like CAH&NW.
By the 1990’s, partially as a direct result of Mr. Kaufman’s leadership, a score of other regional community groups formed and most came under the Greenfire Coalition umbrella. Earth Day celebrations were organized, super fund sites were designated, N.J. Steel was defeated, a proposed cargo airport was defeated, and a mega landfill proposal was defeated. Politicians had to do more. CAN-DO’s economic paradigm was publicly challenged. Please see Newspaper.com for details.
Unfortunately, many of the above problems persist and have been exacerbated. Economic development is still in the hands of a small group with virtually no significant community dialogue. The mine pools under the city/area still exist and hold toxic secrets. Cancer rates continue to exceed national rates. Super fund sites were only minimally treated (capped) and the toxics linger (Chromatex). CAN-DO continues to devastate thousands of acres of wildlife habitat. A new demographic has adopted the city/area.
Phil Kaufman had/has a significant impact that has staying power. It is all on record.