Waste Connections is seeking permission to expand the 350-acre Seneca Meadows facility by adding 47 acres of cells and raising its peak by 70 feet. The site absorbs roughly 6,000 tons of daily garbage, with New York City depending heavily on it as municipal dumps face total exhaustion within 25 years. However, nearby communities in Waterloo and Seneca Falls cite foul odors and groundwater hazards to oppose the prolonged operations. Aircraft observations recently pinpointed the sprawling location as the single largest contributor to methane emissions in the entire state.
Key points
Distant landfills that handle municipal garbage are projected to reach full operating cap…: Distant landfills that handle municipal garbage are projected to reach full operating capacity within 16 to 25 years.
Nearby residents and state lawmakers oppose the expansion due to noxious odors, groundwat…: Nearby residents and state lawmakers oppose the expansion due to noxious odors, groundwater contamination threats, and climate pollution.
State officials warn that about 80% of the materials buried in the massive landfill could…: State officials warn that about 80% of the materials buried in the massive landfill could have been recycled instead.
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As a visual representation of how New York is running out of places to put its waste, the largest active landfill in the state is a striking one. The hulking Seneca Meadows landfill is already the height of the Statue of Liberty and its operators are seeking to raise it even further, to the consternation of nearby residents.
The landfill, situated in the scenic Finger Lakes region in the northern reaches of New York state, has grown since the 1980s to now sprawl across 350 acres of deposited trash, mounded up to the height of around 300ft – roughly the same height of the Statue of Liberty.
“All around the lakes is pretty flat until you see this monster of a hill,” said Mark Pitifer, a marketing administrator at Waterloo Containers, a glass packaging company that sits next to the landfill and is dwarfed by its neighbor. “I mean it’s incredible, it’s like being in downtown New York City only instead of a building, it’s trash.”
Locals in the nearby towns of Waterloo and Seneca Falls, the latter famed as…
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