Lycoming County commissioners, the Williamsport Sun-Gazette reported last Monday, has taken a key step in their pursuit of an expansion for the Lycoming County landfill, approving an application on a 3-0 vote.

As the Sun-Gazette has detailed in several articles, Lycoming County’s landfill has accrued debts that exceed what revenue the current size and scope of its operations can generate. Expansion of the landfill will reduce the risk of Lycoming County’s property owners and taxpayers being left with the burden of those debts.

The process, appropriately, is a measured, cautious process that can take years — a fair concession, we believe, to safeguard against the worst possible outcomes for contamination of the surrounding habitat.

We appreciate the leadership of our county commissioners and other officials in our county government at diligently moving ahead with this important project, and we are confident that the process can successfully determine how the landfill can best expand, to prevent it from becoming a financial liability for the commissioners’ constituents.