If Gov Wants to Make FLX More "Livable" She's Got to Close State's Largest Landfill

SENECA FALLS, NY (02/15/2023) (readMedia)-- This week, Governor Hochul highlighted proposals in her executive budget intended to make "the Finger Lakes region more affordable, more livable, and safer," including millions of dollars for industry, agriculture and tourism. In response, Seneca Lake Guardian urged the Governor to close Seneca Meadows Inc. – the state's largest landfill – as planned in 2025, rather than granting the Texas based for-profit operator an extension through 2040.

"We applaud the Governor's investment in the Finger Lakes, however, it'll be money wasted if she doesn't also shut down Seneca Meadows Inc. The state's largest landfill belches greenhouse gases and foul odors into the air, as well as toxic PFAS into our drinking water sources, threatening the very industries and livelihoods the Governor wants to support. Susan B. Anthony would be 203 today and despite the millions of dollars the state's first female Governor just allocated to her museum, Anthony wouldn't be thrilled to find that the birthplace of women's rights stinks, literally! Governor Hochul must stand with locals who want the landfill shut down by 2025, rather than the Texas based for-profit company fighting to keep it open," said Yvonne Taylor, Vice-President of Seneca Lake Guardian.

Located in Seneca Falls and standing nearly 30 stories tall, Seneca Meadows landfill produces 75 million gallons of leachate annually. Less than one-third is treated to remove PFAS and other contaminants. The rest – over 50 million gallons – is trucked, untreated, to Buffalo, Watertown, Chittenango and Steuben County wastewater treatment plants, which are not required to test for and don't have the mechanism for removing the PFAS. The discharges from those plants flow into and potentially contaminate drinking water sources. The landfill can be smelled from miles away and exposes residents to unseen gasses and particulate matter that cause increased risk of mortality from lung cancer and respiratory illness due to airborne contamination. Waste Connections, the landfill's operator, filed documents with the DEC to add 47 acres of new landfill space in the so-called valley infill between its two existing facilities and allow the landfill to continue operating through 2040.

DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos recently tweeted about his agency's intentions to "better serve disadvantaged communities all across New York," which should include SMI. According to the draft criteria of the Climate Justice Working Group – established by the Climate Act – there are five disadvantaged communities in Seneca County.

The Governor's proposals include funds to expand the Finger Lakes region's industry and workforce, including $45 million for the semiconductor industry, $20 million to support projects in strategic workforce sectors, and $17 million for technical training. The proposals also include funds for agriculture, parks and tourism, including $20 million for Cornell's Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture, $15 million to improve green space, and $10 million for the Susan B. Anthony Museum. The Finger Lakes region is home to a $3 billion, 60,000 employee wine and agritourism industry.

Background

The Seneca Meadows landfill, located in Seneca Falls, the birthplace of American Women's Rights, is the largest of 27 landfills in New York State. It is permitted to accept 6,000 tons of waste and produces up to 200,000 gallons of polluted leachate – formed when rainwater filters through waste – per day. A quarter of the landfill – which stands at nearly 30 stories tall – is trash from NYC, followed by four other states.

Seneca Meadows was previously required to stop receiving waste and halt operations by December 31, 2025. However, Waste Connections, the Texas based parent company of Seneca Meadows Inc., spent around $200,000 in 2021 promoting pro-landfill candidates who won seats in Town Board and County races and are now supporting the Valley Infill, SMI's planned seven-story high expansion. The expansion would keep the landfill operating through 2040 with allowable dumping on the Valley Infill (the former toxic Tantalo superfund site), rising another 70 feet into the viewscape. Even with the planned closure in 2025, the mountain of garbage promises years of problems and remediation that could take generations to mitigate.

Leachate and wastewater runoff from the landfill contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can cause widespread contamination of drinking water and harmful health impacts. Landfills are one of four major sources of PFAS, and landfills account for 17 percent of total methane emissions.

SMI is located two miles from Cayuga-Seneca Canal and three miles from every school in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, potentially exposing students to airborne particulates and unseen gasses known to contribute to respiratory illness, asthma, and migraine headaches. The landfill cannot process all of the methane that is generated and is forced to burn almost a billion cubic feet per year in 5 flares, contributing to climate change.

SMI is harming the Finger Lakes' natural resources that have led to the region being under consideration for a National Heritage Area Designation, and which the $3 billion, 60,000-employee wine and agritourism economy relies on. The odor from the landfill can be smelled from miles away, including at Thruway exit 41, the northern gateway to the Finger Lakes. Large, sustainable employers in the area are finding it difficult to recruit and retain employees, because nobody wants to raise a family near a dangerous landfill.

SMI's expansion is also at odds with the overwhelmingly popular amendment to the New York state constitution passed last year, which guarantees every New Yorker the right to clean air, clean water, and a healthful environment.

A recent Rockefeller Institute policy brief showed that New York is one of nine states that falls well short of the EPA guidance on enforceable drinking water standards for PFAS.

The "PFAS Surface Water Discharge Disclosure Act" – introduced by Senator May and Assembly Member Kelles last year – would require annual testing for all facilities permitted to discharge water. There are no federal or state regulations currently requiring PFAS disclosures from all facilities that might be discharging it.

About Seneca Lake Guardian

Seneca Lake Guardian is a New York State Not-for-Profit Corporation with 501(c)(3) and is dedicated to preserving and protecting the health of the Finger Lakes, its residents and visitors, its rural community character, and its agricultural and tourist related businesses through public education, citizen participation, engagement with decision makers, and networking with like-minded organizations.