Toxic ‘trash juice’ a problem at 4 NH landfills, including Rochester

On Jul 21, 2024

Litter in and around the landfill. Waste outside of the permitted area. Releases of liquid pollution. Failure to file mandatory reports.

These are some of the issues found at four of the state’s active landfills, documented by letters of deficiency sent by the Department of Environmental Services from January to June. Many of the problems centered around the management of leachate, the “trash juice” created when rainfall mixes with waste that can be highly toxic.

One of those facilities, a subsidiary of the Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems, failed hundreds of times to keep leachate to its required levels and to file mandatory reports, data, and investigations with the state, according to a June letter from DES.

That same company is trying to overcome local opposition to build a landfill half a mile from a lake in the tiny North Country town of Dalton, about a 20-minute drive from Bethlehem, the 2,500-person town that houses its current landfill, North Country Environmental Services.

Other landfills that have received letters this year include ones in Rochester, run by Waste Management New Hampshire; Conway, run by the town; and Lebanon, operated by the city.

Jeff Weld, a Casella spokesperson, told the Bulletin the issues outlined by DES are “unacceptable” and that Casella would conduct a “significant investigation” into their root causes. He said, too, that the issues “are not representative” of the company’s “expectations for operational excellence,” but that they posed “no potential harm” to people or the environment.

“We have immediately implemented several operational improvements to diminish the production of leachate at the site,” Weld said, “while also increasing the number of wastewater treatment and hauling contractors available to help manage the site’s wastewater.”

Spokespeople for the landfills in Rochester and Lebanon said the issues had been addressed. A representative of the Conway landfill did not respond to requests for comment.

Casella has been the subject of public scrutiny amid its yearslong battle to build a new landfill in Dalton. It has also been criticized before for its management of the Bethlehem facility.

In 2021, 154,000 gallons of leachate overflowed at the facility in what may have been the largest spill in state history. Weld said the company believed the spill did not extend beyond a surface water detention pond at the landfill.

In 2022, Casella paid $50,000 in the settlement of a federal Clean Water Act lawsuit brought by environmental groups that alleged the landfill was polluting the Ammonoosuc River, which borders the facility. The company maintains it did nothing unlawful.

The DES letter, sent in June, laid out issues ranging back to last summer.

“Please be aware that leachate storage on the liner in the depths and at the frequency suggested by the currently available data is a significant issue,” DES wrote to the facility. “When this occurs, it is NCES’s responsibility to identify and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

That quote stood out to Amy Manzelli, an attorney from BCM Environmental & Land Law who represents North Country Alliance for Balance Change, a group that opposes the Dalton landfill and advocates on solid waste issues.

“When the department explicitly editorializes on an issue,” she said, “identifying it as a, quote, significant issue, end quote, that really jumps out at you as a red flag that this is an unusually important, significant issue.”

Problems abound

A letter of deficiency is “the medium level” of enforcement action that DES can take, Manzelli explained. The ones received by at least four landfills this year laid out a collection of issues.

The landfill in Lebanon, operated by the city, had leachate breakouts in 13 areas, including five releases beyond the facility and into the environment, according to a letter DES sent in April. The facility did not immediately notify DES, as required, and at least some of the issues were not handled in “a timely manner,” the letter said.

DES also observed “large quantities of litter” in and outside the footprint of the landfill. A 2023 review of the facility, which DES said it received in March, found it was placing waste outside of its permitted vertical limits.

Christopher Kilmer, the assistant public works director for Lebanon, said the city has worked to address the violations.

“We’ve worked diligently with New Hampshire DES to return to a level of compliance, which we have done ahead of time,” Kilmer said.

In Rochester, a landfill run by Waste Management of New Hampshire had at least 13 leachate discharges between the end of December 2022 and late April of this year, according to a May letter from DES. The number of incidents within that time period represents “an ongoing operational issue at the Facility,” DES wrote.

In three site visits since December 2022, the facility was found to be “non-compliant on all three occasions” with requirements to cover waste, at a minimum, at the end of each operating day, according to DES.

DES also noted it had not been notified, as required, about elevated levels of leachate at the facility.

Garrett Trierweiler, the company’s public affairs director, said in an email that Waste Management “has complied with all the requirements of the action plan as stated” and will work with DES on any future issues.

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2024-07-21 16:08:44