WATERLOO, N.Y. – A rally is planned Tuesday afternoon regarding the future of the Seneca Meadows landfill in Waterloo. The debate over the landfill has been ongoing for years. In 2016, Seneca Falls Local Law Number Three was enacted to prohibit waste disposal in the area after December 31, 2025.
Seneca Meadows, the waste company, aims to continue operations until 2040 and expand its footprint. Although the town board approved a local permit in March, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has the final decision. The group ‘Concerned Citizens of Seneca County’ is appealing to the DEC to stop the landfill.
“It more days than not. The moment you step out of your the front door of your home, you’re hit by this overwhelming stench that comes from the landfill,” said Douglas Avery of Concerned Citizens of Seneca County. “Our fear is that the DEC is simply going to ignore it. And, if they if they okay the expansion, then we’re stuck with Seneca Meadows in operation through at least 2040,” Avery said.
Several protests have been held against the landfill. The most recent back in April.
Seneca Meadows released the following statement:
“The health and safety of our employees, our neighbors, and the community has always been our number one value and focus. From investing in state-of-the-art green technology, to regularly keeping the public informed, we’ve always been transparent in our essential role in building a bright future for the Finger Lakes. For 20 plus years we have and will continue to work with Seneca Falls and Waterloo to provide critical revenue through our host community agreements that reduce tax burdens on local families making our host communities tax rates some of the lowest in New York State. Those dollars help support local emergency services and responders, police, schools, teachers, and the students. In fact, several of our employees currently have children in the Waterloo School District or have already graduated. Many students in both Seneca Falls and Waterloo Schools have benefitted from educational programs and partnerships with Seneca Meadows for more than 20 years, including the first school composting program at the Waterloo Middle School in 2008, where students turned lunch scraps and leaves, and recycling school room trash was their ‘Green’ dream which included a courtyard garden at the school. We’re also proud to be a longtime sponsor of the Waterloo and Seneca Falls Little League programs. These are good examples of the many ways Seneca Meadows positively impacts children’s lives locally.
We continue diligently working with the NYSDEC on our Valley Infill application submitted July 2020. Look forward to completing.”
News10NBC is working to learn from the DEC where the timeline stands with their decision.
News10NBC Kristi Blake: What do you say to those who – Waste Connections or just people who are fine having a landfill? What do you say to the people who would think, okay, well, where else do you want this landfill to go if it’s not your community, it’s somebody else’s community?
Douglas Avery, Concerned Citizens of Seneca County: “That’s that’s the sad truth, because if it doesn’t go here, it has to go somewhere and, you know, this is in a way, it’s sort of related to the whole not in my backyard syndrome. We’ve paid our dues. We have this mammoth mountain of trash already here, and we’re going to be dealing with the ramifications of that for decades and so it will have to go somewhere. And that’s the truth.”
The rally is scheduled to start at noon today near Waterloo Middle and High Schools.
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“Overwhelming stench”: Seneca County residents push back against landfill WHEC.com.
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