DUMP LLC reached a settlement agreement earlier this month with landfill owner Casella Waste Systems that will put in place increased odor monitoring and other measures. The parties filed a notice to dismiss the appeal in the Vermont Superior Court’s Environmental Division Monday. This will move landfill owner Casella Waste Systems one step closer to a 51-acre expansion.
The settlement agreement represents the latest development in almost a year and a half of opposition by some local residents and neighboring Canadians to Casella’s plan to expand the landfill by 51 acres. “I think the outcome will benefit the public,” said Henry Coe, a Barton resident who has served as a coordinator of DUMP.
Last October, the state Agency of Natural Resources’ Department of Environmental Conservation issued a final solid waste certification approving a 10-year continuation of the existing landfill and an expansion to its south. Members of DUMP LLC filed an appealshortly after seeking to overturn that approval.
In the appeal, the group alleged that in issuing the certificate DEC did not adequately address concerns about water pollution, air pollution and traffic impact. The expansion has faced steep opposition from nearby residents, neighboring Canadians and multiple conservation groups concerned about the landfill’s location in the far northern part of the state near Lake Memphremagog — a border-straddling source of drinking water.
One particular concern was that Casella was sending leachate to be treated at Newport’s wastewater treatment plant on the Clyde River, which flows into Memphremagog. The state has found elevated levels of PFAS in leachate tested from closed landfills around the state, with Coventry — the state’s only open landfill — testing the highest. The PFAS levels were below the state’s recommended levels for leachate destined for wastewater treatment plants.
Residents near the landfill have raised concerns that state employees based in Montpelier cannot respond in a timely enough fashion to odor complaints. Under a previous permit, Casella could not receive a violation from the state unless someone from DEC or Casella confirmed an off-site odor.