Forwarded from Yvonne Taylor, Co-Founder and Vice President of Seneca Lake Guardian
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As October draws to a close, I wanted to remind you about the upcoming public comment period on the Seneca Meadows Landfill’s permit renewal and expansion proposal. We expect that the New York State DEC will open the comment period on November 12th! We will make commenting easy by supplying a sample comment for anyone to complete. As a reminder, we need as many organizations and individuals to submit a public comment to the NYSDEC in opposition to the proposed landfill expansion. Once the period begins, we ask that you submit your own comment, be sure to share this with your members, fellow organizations and networks and encourage others to do the same!
Thanks to your partnership, we are hoping to flood the DEC with comments from a diverse group of regional and statewide advocates, calling on the DEC to reject SMI’s request for a new permit and to enforce its 2025 closure date.
Our state has set a plan for waste reduction in its solid waste management plan that does not depend on the expansion of Seneca Meadows landfill. We clearly don’t need this dump and permitting it to grow would move us further away from our climate and zero waste goals. It is time for Seneca Meadows to shut down for good as we collectively take bold action to begin a statewide transition towards a zero-waste future.
I wanted to remind you of our past conversations on this critical issue, and let you know that we’re getting closer to go-time. We will continue to be in touch and share more resources as we near this momentous point in our campaign to shut down the landfill and hope you will continue to be engaged with us. This is not just our fight in the Finger Lakes, this is a fight for the health and wellbeing of all communities across New York and beyond. We are optimistic that with your help we can win this fight. We are counting on you.
