by Philip Gillemot
On March 4 the Town of Seneca Falls Board seemingly voted to approve a local landfill permit and a host community agreement (HCA) that gave local approval for the expansion of the Seneca Meadows sanitary landfill (SMI).
The next day, a dispute became public on the validity of the votes. According to the Finger Lakes Times, Deputy Town Clerk Melissa Brown stated that the votes were invalid due to the lack of formal motions and seconds. Supervisor Frank Schmitter said the measures, which passed without formal motions, are valid and do not need a re-vote, according to a written statement. Supervisor Schmitter stated that he checked with the Town Attorney and that the votes were valid. Ms. Brown stated that because the resolutions had not been properly introduced or seconded before being voted upon, they could not be part of the meeting's minutes, citing information from the New York Association of Towns.
The meeting was marred by a poor public address system, with significant echo and feedback making speakers' comments frequently unintelligible or difficult to understand. The Finger Lakes Times reported that the vote on the local landfill permit was 3-2 to approve and 4-1 to approve for the host community agreement. There are two other challenges to SMI's expansion. The first is the needed approval by the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). This approval process is awaiting the acceptance by the DEC of Seneca Meadow's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. There has been a back-and-forth process for the last year between these two entities, with SMI submitting a statement multiple times and the DEC responding each time with requests for more information and pointing out multitudes of misspellings. The last round occurred on January 31, according to the Finger Lakes Times, with the DEC asking for clarification of around 50 items, including:
-Verifying the percentage of methane produced that is oxidized by its cover system
-Showing data it has that it has obtained and summarized regarding leachate quality
-Including information related to the Environmental Justice Siting Law that came into effect at the end of 2024
-Reflect greenhouse gas emission limits set by the state Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CCPA) for landfills
-Adding a description of what happens to PFAS chemicals when they leave the landfill
-Including a summary of future odor control plans
-Adding a discussion of the malodorous and noxious gas hydrogen sulfide
-Adding a discussion of why leachate treated on site and discharged to local sewers should not create a health impact
-Elaborating on formaldehyde and other contributing factors that could impact cancer rates and reiterate mitigation efforts before reaching a conclusion
-Listing projects that will be implemented under the CLCPA (New York State's historic Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act) rather than what projects have been considered (my emphasis)
No time limit has been set by the DEC for Seneca Meadows to respond. The current permit to allow SMI to operate expires at the end of 2025. SMI is asking to start new dumping in the center of the current U-shaped landfill. This location is an old toxic waste site. SMI is asking to keep the landfill functioning until 2040.
Public input was allowed at this meeting only after the vote. A large majority of those speaking expressed profound dissatisfaction with the votes authorizing the expansion of Seneca Meadows. One member of the public asked the board members to state their reasons for supporting or voting against the project. Mr. Schmitter responded that if the landfill expansion would not go ahead that property taxes for everyone in the town would increase, citing an example of $598 more per year on a $200,000 value residence. Before the meeting, Yvonne Taylor (Vice President of Seneca Lake Guardian) stated that two sources disclosed to her that the Town of Seneca Falls has multiple reserve fund accounts totaling $20-40 million. She also stated that the Town would be in good financial shape if the landfill extension did not go through.
Diane DiPasquale, a Seneca Falls resident and attorney spoke after the vote and stated to me, "I’m appalled at this. They should be ashamed. They’ve done nothing to protect this community… They’ve sold out our future for a pittance of dollars…And nobody’s going to come here.” Concerning the HCA she stated, “There’s nothing that they’re going to do to mitigate. Additionally, they put in that if your property values go down within a certain radius that there will be some kind of compensation, so they are already admitting that they recognize the damage they are doing to this community.” “And we should demand a referendum of this.” “Peanuts to this community. And for the damage and selling out this community the present and future. It’s appalling.” “(only)…one of these (board members) raised their hand that they read it (the whole HCA and operating permit)…that’s gross negligence…because you didn’t do your due diligence."
According to the Finger Lakes Times, the vote on the HCA was 4-1, with Schmitter, Sinicropi, Dyson, and Laskoski voting affirmatively and Puylara voting no. The vote on the local operating permit was 3-2, with Schmitter changing his vote to nay. He stated that he didn't believe that a landfill should be near a residential area.
The issues raised on the validity of the votes could be fodder for another legal challenge to the expansion of SMI.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Seneca Falls Town Board is at 6 pm on April 1. Yvonne Taylor, Vice President of Seneca Lake Guardian, announced a protest to take place outside the Town Hall shortly before the meeting. The address is 130 Ovid Street (Highway 414) in Seneca Falls.