NH approves 60-acre expansion of Turnkey landfill in Rochester. Permit now with EPA.

ROCHESTER — Waste Management's Turnkey landfill on Wednesday received state approval to move forward with a 60-acre expansion of its massive garbage disposal operation in Rochester, despite health and safety concerns expressed by neighbors.

The project still requires approval from the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The state approval came from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Air Resources Division (NHDES), which issues the Title V Operating Permit in accordance with the New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules governing the Control of Air Pollution.

The permit has been submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region I (USEPA) for review. That federal agency has 45 days, beginning Oct. 25, in which to object to the issuance of the permit. If no objection is made by the end of the period, NHDES will issue a final permit.

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Permit will allow 1.5 million tons more garbage at landfill

Any person aggrieved by the landfill approval decision can, within 30 days of the date of the decision, file a petition for appeal with the Air Resources Council. More information can be found at https://www.nhec.nh.gov/air-resources-council.

Waste Management needed the permit to move forward with its plans to bring in more than 1 million tons more garbage to the landfill at 176 Rochester Neck Road.

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services permit will allow Turnkey to move forward with their plan to accept an additional 1.4 million to 1.55 million tons of waste, some of it from out of state. This possibility has led to public concern over increased pollution.

According to the permit application, the more than 1,300-acre site in Rochester, which is operated by a private subsidiary of Waste Management, has proposed a plan to increase its disposal capacity and extend the lifespan of its 218-acre active landfill by adding another 60 acres. Three landfills exist at the site. Two are inactive and capped.

The Conservation Law Foundation fought the expansion with a lawsuit in 2020 but was not successful.

Gary Milbury is the administrator for permitting and environmental health for the Department of Environmental Services' air resources division. He said, last week, that concerns about pollutants is not a component of the permit Waste Management is seeking and cannot be taken into consideration. He said Waste Management already received a temporary permit, which will be incorporated into the final permit.

"The permit looks at two areas," he said. "The first part asks to roll the temporary permit into a permanent one. This is normally done as a minor modification revisited every five years, if they meet all criteria. The second part is a requirement for (Waste Management) to meet all U.S. EPA updated requirements for landfills. We can open the permit to make sure those are included. Because of that, we agreed to call this a significant modification. But anything other than those two requirements are not part of the permitting process."

In the meantime, Rochester residents, abutters to the Turnkey operation, are complaining about excessive odor emissions from the site. They are concerned about the smell, but also are questioning the source of odors and the health and safety of their families.

"What is it we are smelling, and why is it so bad?" City Councilor Tim Fontneau asked. "Is this a safety issue? People say they go outside, and it smells so bad they run back inside and close their windows."

"We have been hearing from our residents, who are telling us there are very bad odors," Mayor Paul Callaghan said.

The questions came Oct. 17 during a public hearing the Rochester City Council held with Steve Poggi, director of disposal operations for Waste Management.

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Excessive stench blamed on heavy rains

Poggi acknowledged the worsening odor, blaming unusually high amounts of rainfall this summer and fall.

He told councilors Waste Management is taking action to remediate the odor problem and indicated the company believes it is not a safety concern for area residents.

Callaghan asked Poggi if Waste Management had to remediate odor issues in the past. He said no.

Poggi said rainfall measured on site was 47.6 inches from January to September, and the facility's gas collection system has occasionally been compromised.

"Excessive amounts of rainfall can flood out the gas collection pipes, causing landfill gas to leave the site outside of the closed collection system," he said. "This can cause temporary odor issues on site and in the surrounding area. We are aware of the increase in odor complaints over the past several months and have taken immediate and aggressive action to correct the causes. As noted, because collection pipes that take on water may have reduced capacity to manage landfill gas, much of the focus has been on installing new collection pipes and wells.

"We have increased our efforts to engage with our neighbors as we undertake these site improvements," Poggi added. "The Turnkey facility has a dedicated phone line for area residents to call when they experience an odor they believe is coming from the facility."

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Odor complaint line set up

Poggi said residents can call 855-514-5157 "once an odor has been detected and provide specific details about the time, location, and nature of their observations." He said a third party takes the calls and relays information from residents to Waste Management so the company can "investigate, track and quickly respond to any odor complaints."

Retired local scientist Cynthia Walter, who holds a Ph.D. in biology, is among those who raised concerns by submitting comments to a public hearing about the plans at Turnkey Landfill, held by the state DES last month in Concord.

She raised concerns about safety standards and said she does not believe the landfill should be allowed to take in more materials until much-improved monitoring steps are in place.

"Citizens can smell Turnkey in their neighborhoods, but no one knows what they are breathing. Air pollutants from landfills include many that harm health," she said.

Milbury, of the New Hampshire DES, said predicting the impact of Waste Management bringing in more material is hard to predict. He also said because of interstate commerce clauses, the department cannot prevent material from coming in from other states.

"But in another point, the more they bring in, the faster they will fill up, and eventually they will need to cap and close the landfill," Milbury said. "We are certainly not unsympathetic to the concerns. The whole reason we permit is because of concerns. We can take a look and look at their best practices and work to remediate issues if found."

City councilors have been looking at steps to make up the $4 million annual loss in hosting revenues when the Turnkey operation closes, estimated to be around 2034.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: NH approves 60-acre expansion of Turnkey landfill in Rochester, NH