SLG, 600+ Signatories & Earthjustice to DEC: NY's Largest Landfill Must Be Included in Prohibition

SENECA FALLS, NY (08/29/2022) (readMedia)-- Seneca Lake Guardian submitted comments prepared by Earthjustice to the NY Department of Conservation (DEC) on a proposed regulation to prohibit the expansion or creation of new landfills that sit within 1,000 feet of a home or school. More than 600 signatories, including local residents, supporters and more than 400 businesses in the region, also weighed in supporting the regulation. Since there are several homes within 1,000 feet of Seneca Meadows, the regulation would prohibit the landfill's proposed expansion. SLG submitted testimony in a public hearing on the regulations last month.

"We support DEC's proposed regulations to prohibit new or expanded landfills within 1,000 feet of schools or residences. This proposal would prohibit expansion of Seneca Meadows – the State's largest landfill, which towers over the region at 30 stories tall and sits within 1,000 feet of several residences. Living near a landfill can have disastrous health consequences, and we're glad DEC is taking action to protect New Yorker's health," said Yvonne Taylor, vice president of Seneca Lake Guardian.

"The proposed regulations are a good first step to protect communities that have borne the burden of landfill pollution. The regulations support environmental justice and finally prohibit landfills from being too close to homes and schools," said Jill Witkowski Heaps, Senior Attorney at Earthjustice and former Vice-Chair of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, a federal advisory committee advising EPA on environmental justice issues.

The odor of Seneca Meadows can be smelled from miles away, and it's permitted to accept 6,000 tons of waste and produce up to 200,000 gallons per day of polluted leachate – which is formed when rainwater filters through waste and contains toxic "forever chemicals'' called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The landfill also exposes local residents to airborne particulates and unseen gasses that are known to contribute to respiratory illness, asthma, and migraine headaches. Yet, Texas-based Waste Connections that runs the landfill recently 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.

The letter submitted by SLG and 600+ signatories is attached.

Background

Seneca Meadows Inc. Landfill

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 produce up to 200,000 gallons of polluted leachate – formed when rainwater filters through waste – per day. A quarter of the landfill – which stands at 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., contributed around $280,000 in 2021 to 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. Seneca Meadows produces 75 million gallons of leachate each year which is distributed not just to Seneca Falls but also to Buffalo, Watertown, Chittenango, and Steuben County, contaminating drinking water across the state.

SMI is located two miles from Cayuga-Seneca Canal and three miles from every school in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, 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.

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.