Watch a recording of the press conference here
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: senecalake@berlinrosen.com
NEW YORK — Earlier today, Seneca Lake Guardian and Beyond Plastics, joined by New York City Council Member Sandy Nurse, advocates and impacted families from across New York, called on state leaders to deny the proposed expansion of the Seneca Meadows Landfill, demand the landfill be shut down once and for all, and and pass the proposed Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, which is pending in Albany.
Seneca Meadows, the state’s largest landfill and largest single-point source of planet-warming methane emissions, had its operating permit expire on December 31, 2025, yet it continues to operate thanks to a legal loophole in the State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA). The loophole allows Waste Connections, the landfill’s Texas-based, for-profit operator, to continue accepting garbage every day while awaiting a final decision from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on its proposal to expand its footprint and extend operations for another 15 years. For years, New York City has sent thousands of tons of trash to Seneca Meadows, creating an expensive system that exports the burdens of waste disposal — including odors, pollution, and truck traffic — onto Finger Lakes communities. In recent years, up to 30% of the waste received annually at Seneca Meadows has been shipped via diesel trucks hundreds of miles from New York City.
“New York cannot continue relying on landfills that harm public health, threaten local economies, and undermine our climate goals,” said New York City Council Member Sandy Nurse. “Shipping New York City’s trash hundreds of miles upstate is expensive, unsustainable, and unfair to environmental justice communities. From Brooklyn to the Finger Lakes, we all have a responsibility to be part of the solution. That’s why we need to shut down facilities like Seneca Meadows and pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act to reduce waste at its source and build a better, more sustainable future for our families.”
“Seneca Meadows was supposed to close at the end of 2025, and yet families across the Finger Lakes are still suffering from the consequences of a landfill that has already exceeded its intended lifespan,” said Yvonne Taylor, Co-Founder and Vice President of Seneca Lake Guardian. “The DEC has a clear responsibility to deny this expansion and enforce the landfill’s closure when it reaches capacity. At the same time, we need real solutions to our waste crisis, like the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, that would reduce our reliance on landfills and stop treating communities like ours as dumping grounds.”
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA) offers a real solution to New York’s growing waste crisis. PRRIA would require big businesses like Amazon and Walmart to reduce excess packaging, phase out the most toxic chemicals used to make packaging, and fund local reuse and recycling programs — shifting costs away from taxpayers while reducing the volume of waste sent to landfills like Seneca Meadows in the first place. The legislation would also help cut greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sector and move New York toward the zero-waste goals outlined in the New York State Solid Waste Management Plan.
“New York cannot landfill its way out of this crisis,” said Judith Enck, President of Beyond Plastics and former EPA Regional Administrator. “We need to reduce waste at the source, and the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act is a critical step toward doing that. We also must not allow Seneca Meadows—which has already caused significant environmental and public health harm—to expand or operate for fifteen more years.”
“Communities across New York are feeling the impacts of a broken system,” said Mary Ellen Sullivan, Chair of the Brooklyn Solid Waste Advisory Board. “We need to reduce waste at its source and build a better, more equitable system that does not rely on overburdening communities. Thank you to Seneca Lake Guardian for your work to shut down Seneca Meadows and thank you Council Member Sandy Nurse for your legislative leadership.”
Speakers included local residents who shared firsthand accounts of how the landfill’s odor and pollution impacts their families and communities.
“My sons smell the landfill when they play outside, when they are at school, even when they are just in our yard,” said Sarah Mull, a Seneca Falls parent. “They are already asking what they’re breathing and what it means for their health. That’s not something any child should have to worry about. We desperately need the DEC to deny this expansion and enforce closure, and we need solutions like PRRIA to reduce the waste being sent to communities like ours.”
“My sons go to school in sight of this landfill and it smells like garbage at the schools and the athletic fields regularly. It makes me sick knowing that they are sitting in school some days breathing in toxic air for over six hours a day said Michelle Grillone, a local parent. “We’ve had to pull them out of school because of headaches and nausea. This is not just a quality of life issue—it’s a public health issue. Our kids deserve better, and that starts with shutting this landfill down.”
Seneca Meadows also threatens the economy of the Finger Lakes. The region’s wine, agriculture, and tourism industries support roughly 60,000 jobs and generate more than $4 billion annually for New York’s economy – but local businesses are increasingly concerned that an expansion of Seneca Meadows will undermine the region’s reputation as a world-class tourist destination.
The DEC has yet to accept Seneca Meadows’ most recent revision of its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) as complete. Once that happens, the public comment period for the landfill’s renewal will open, allowing New Yorkers to make their voices heard and demand the permanent closure of Seneca Meadows.
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About Seneca Lake Guardian
Seneca Lake Guardian is a New York State not-for-profit Corporation with 501(c)(3) and is dedicated to preserving and protecting the health of the Finger Lakes, its residents and visitors, its rural community character, and its agricultural and tourist related businesses through public education, citizen participation, engagement with decision makers, and networking with like-minded organizations.