ICYMI: Buffalonians Stuck Dealing With Toxic Waste they Didn't Create

BUFFALO, NY (06/26/2023) (readMedia)-- John Szalasny, a member of the Sierra Club Niagara Group, has a new op-ed in the Buffalo News today that highlights how Seneca Meadows – the state's largest landfill – is a threat to Buffalonians' health. Last year, Seneca Meadows sent over 40 million gallons of toxic, PFAS contaminated leachate to the Buffalo Sewer Authority. The BSA is on record admitting they don't have the capacity or taxpayer funds to properly filter out PFAS from the wastewater they discharge into the Niagara River. Since neither the wastewater treatment plant nor the taxpayers are responsible for this problem, John makes the case for addressing pollution at the source.

Read the full text of the op-ed here or below.

Bird Island is Taking Waste From Elsewhere

By John Szalasny, a member of the Sierra Club Niagara Group

Seneca Meadows, New York's largest landfill, is 117 miles from the Bird Island Wastewater Treatment Plant – where the Buffalo Sewer Authority discharges into the Niagara River. Like every landfill, Seneca Meadows produces leachate: a toxic liquid that accumulates when rainwater flows through waste. Last year, Seneca Meadows produced 66 million gallons of leachate. More than 60% of it was trucked, untreated, to Bird Island. That means Buffalonians are suffering from the impacts of waste they didn't create. We must address this pollution at its source.

The leachate the Buffalo Sewer Authority accepts contains PFAS. Landfill leachate is one of four major sources of this "forever chemical." PFAS persist in the environment and our bodies, and are linked to harmful health impacts such as cancer and decreased fertility. It's the Sewer Authority's job to remove contaminants before discharging leachate into the river, but the treatment plant doesn't have the technology to remove PFAS. And according to O.J. McFoy, the general manager of the Sewer Authority, it could cost $100 million in upgrades to scrub PFAS from the discharge.

Why take in huge quantities of toxic wastewater, trucked in from over 100 miles away? Money. This practice has earned the Buffalo Sewer Authority at least $5.6 million in revenue over the past 3 years.

While none of the water downstream of Bird Island yet exceeds New York's PFAS limits, quantities persist, and even extremely low PFAS levels in drinking water has risks. Buffalo's PFAS contamination must be addressed at the source: the mountain of trash in Seneca Falls.

This is why the DEC must direct Seneca Meadows to close by 2025 and reject the landfill's application to expand another 47 acres. Already, the site will require decades of remediation, and produces more PFAS-contaminated leachate than it can process on its own. Gov. Hochul and the Legislature must also prioritize the PFAS surface water disclosure act (S227A). Currently, there are no federal or state regulations requiring PFAS testing at landfills or wastewater treatment plants.

Buffalonians are stuck cleaning up a mess they didn't make. Gov. Hochul must step in to protect her hometown and New Yorkers statewide.

John Szalasny is a member of the Sierra Club Niagara Group.