New Yorkers should not have to worry about water contaminated by our landfills | Opinion
Every landfill produces leachate: a toxic liquid that accumulates when rainwater flows through waste. Seneca Meadows — New York state’s largest landfill — produces 75 million gallons of the stuff each year and it’s driving a public health crisis across the state.
Landfill leachate is one of four major sources of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. PFAS are found in thousands of household items, like non-stick pans, water-repellent clothing, stain resistant fabrics, and products that resist grease like fast-food wrappers and popcorn bags. When these items make their way into landfills, the PFAS they contain contaminate the leachate.
Known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are human-made substances that build up and persist in the environment and our bodies. What has made them coveted manufacturing materials is also what makes them so dangerous: they contain extremely strong carbon-fluorine bonds that do not occur in nature and are extremely difficult to break. Exposure to PFAS is linked to harmful health impacts such as cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility, increased risk of asthma, and thyroid disease.
So what does Waste Connections — Seneca Meadows’ Texas based, for-profit operator — do with the 200,000 gallons of toxic, PFAS-laden leachate the landfill produces every day?
It ships it around New York state. Only one third is treated on site to reduce PFAS before the leachate is released into the Seneca Falls sewer system. The rest makes its way into New York’s waterways, untreated, often flowing downstream to drinking water resources.
Three of the four localities receiving Seneca Meadows’ untreated leachate are environmentally disadvantaged communities as defined by the state’s Climate Act: Watertown, Steuben County and Buffalo. These communities already bear a disproportionate burden of climate change and pollution impacts and yet Seneca Meadows’ polluted leachate is trucked to their wastewater treatment plants where there are no technologies or treatment processes for removing PFAS. The Climate Act requires increased investment in environmentally disadvantaged communities to combat pollution. Meanwhile Seneca Meadows continues to add to their pollution problems and perpetuate the environmental injustice they experience.
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged that no amount of PFAS is safe for human health and proposed extremely low contaminant levels for PFAS in drinking water. The EPA’s proposal is far lower than the New York State Department of Health’s guidance. While New York has taken steps to fight PFAS pollution like banning the chemicals from clothing and other apparel, now is the time for our state to follow the EPA’s proposed limits.
We must support strategies that will protect drinking water across New York from being contaminated by PFAS pollution caused by landfill leachate. First and foremost, Seneca Meadows must close on schedule in 2025. The site already promises decades of remediation. But instead, Waste Connections wants the landfill to expand by another 47 acres and grow seven stories higher while continuing to operate through 2040. For the public’s health and the safety of its drinking water, the DEC must deny their application.
Currently, there are no federal or state regulations requiring PFAS testing at landfills or wastewater treatment plants. This hamstrings municipalities from taking meaningful action to protect their drinking water from contamination. We must require PFAS testing for Seneca Meadows’ leachate before it is brought to Seneca Falls and other communities. We can’t keep taking Waste Connections’ word that wastewater from Seneca Meadows is “clean”. The PFAS surface water disclosure act (S227A) is a good first step, requiring annual testing for all industrial facilities discharging to wastewater treatment plants. Understanding the sources and volume of PFAS entering New York waterways is fundamental to solving this growing health crisis.
New York is home to hundreds of miles of lakes and streams that provide drinking water for millions of people and support agriculture, tourism, and recreation. At a time when water scarcity is becoming more prevalent, we must not allow landfill leachate — a major source of PFAS — to enter our waterways. We must do all we can to protect the health of New Yorkers and ensure our freshwater resources are safe and drinkable for future generations.
Laura Orlando, is senior science advisor at Just Zero, an advocacy organization working to implement just and equitable zero waste solutions across the country.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: NY must address landfill PFAS leachate
