New York's largest landfill sent 65 million gallons of waste into drinking water sources, report says

A New York landfill produces more than 65 million gallons of leachate a year, and that waste travels through sewage plants whose outflows feed into major drinking water sources, according to a new statewide report.

For communities downstream, pollution created in one place may not stay there.

Here's what to know

Seneca Meadows Inc. on Route 414 was New York's biggest source of landfill leachate, averaging more than 65 million gallons each year from 2019 through 2023, according to the Finger Lakes Times, which covered a New York River Watch webinar on the findings.

The landfill's leachate was piped to seven municipal sewage plants, some of which empty into major sources of drinking water.

The outlet also reported that 9.2 million gallons from Seneca Meadows flowed into the Black River by way of Watertown, 13.9 million gallons reached the Seneca River through the plant in Seneca Falls, and 38.3 million gallons entered the Niagara River via the Buffalo Sewer Authority's Bird Island site.

Waste generated at one landfill can be transported elsewhere and mixed into municipal treatment streams. That puts the pollution burden on rivers and lakes that supply water to other communities.

The findings raise questions about whether state rules let private waste operations shift risks onto public infrastructure and public waterways.

More background

Leachate is the contaminated liquid that forms when water moves through piles of trash, picking up chemicals along the way.

Municipal sewage plants are built to process household sewage, not necessarily the industrial byproducts a large landfill generates.

The report centers on public water supplies, naming Lake Ontario and the Niagara River among the waterways tied to drinking water, fisheries, and nearby communities.

Rather than staying confined to one site, the report suggests, pollution can move through a network of public treatment plants and waterways well beyond the landfill itself.

Rebecca Martin, co-founder and CEO of New York River Watch, said the findings show "how a single landfill can spread contamination risks far beyond its host community."

What's being done?

New York River Watch used the webinar and statewide report to draw attention to what it sees as a regulatory gap in landfill leachate management.

The findings could push regulators to examine where leachate is going, what treatment standards apply, and whether municipal plants should be receiving such large volumes, particularly when discharge points are tied to widely used drinking water sources.

The report questions whether companies and regulators are treating public waterways as the final destination for waste that should be more tightly controlled.

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