Waterloo Container + BonaDent Dental Laboratories Denounce Bullying from State's Largest Landfill Against SLG

SENECA FALLS, NY (12/13/2022) (readMedia)-- Waterloo Container and BonaDent Dental Laboratories – two of Seneca County's largest employers located near the State's largest landfill in Seneca Falls – expressed their support for Seneca Lake Guardian as the group received threats of legal action from the landfill operator.

On November 18, 2022, a law firm representing Seneca Meadows, Inc, which operates Seneca Meadows landfill and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Waste Connections – a Texas-based company – sent an 11-page cease & desist letter threatening legal action unless the group stopped spreading information about the dangers of Seneca Meadows landfill, and all landfills for that matter, to the quality of air, water and progress on the State's ambitious climate goals laid out in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The letter is an attempt to bully local advocates into silence and stifle their First Amendment rights to public participation with the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation in a permitting process educating the public about the dangers of Seneca Meadows landfill, and all landfills for that matter, to air and water quality. Seneca Lake Guardian's response is linked here.

Seneca Meadows landfill is the largest of 27 landfills in New York State. It is permitted to accept 6,000 tons of waste per day and produce 75 million gallons of polluted leachate – formed when rainwater filters through waste – annually. A quarter of the garbage going to the landfill - which stands at 30 stories tall – is trash from NYC. The landfill accepts additional waste from 47 counties in NY State, four additional states and Canada. Leachate and wastewater runoff from the landfill contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can cause widespread contamination of drinking water and are documented to have harmful health impacts. Of the 75 million gallons of leachate produced 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 that 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 in municipalities across the state. The landfill, which is supposed to close in 2025, has requested an expansion that would add another seven stories and an extension allowing them to operate through 2040.

"Waterloo Container is incredulous as Waste Connections uses bully tactics to try to infringe upon Seneca Lake Guardian's First Amendment rights. Seneca Lake Guardian is a community organization representing well supported facts about the landfill as well as their legally protected opinions," said Bill Lutz, President of Waterloo Container. "It's appalling to see a big, Texas-based company that claims to be a good neighbor go after our actual neighbors like this."

"Alone we cannot compete with the landfill's money, influence, and intimidation on our electorate. Time and time again, Waste Connections has proven that they will double down on financial, political and legal pressure in an effort to quiet the voices of those like Seneca Lake Guardian, local businesses and community members in our region who are negatively impacted by this issue. The Finger Lakes Region should be defined by its rich history, natural resources, and ecotourism, not exploited, overshadowed, and dumped on by predatory corporations. We need strong leadership and oversight to ensure that the Finger Lakes area is preserved as an area that families will want to raise children in, businesses can thrive in, and tourists will come to enjoy," said Daniele Bonafiglia Wirth, President and CEO of BonaDent & Danaren Dental Laboratories.

In 2020, BonaDent sent a letter urging the Town Board to deny the permit the landfill sought to expand the 30-story-tall skyscraper of garbage by another seven stories and extend their operations through at least 2040. The letter said the presence of the landfill has negatively impacted BonaDent's ability to recruit future employees. Despite the world-class, amenity rich facility BonaDent has built, the company struggles to recruit technicians to this region and have a much easier time recruiting employees to satellite locations in Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. Visiting customers have commented on the odor from the landfill and how it would impact their return to the area and their recommendation for others to do so either.

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 produces up to 75 million 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 and Canada.

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.

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.