Seneca Meadows Landfill. Courtesy of Mark Pitifer.
The Seneca Meadows Landfill does not have to close by the end of 2025.
The Finger Lakes Times reports, a 22-page ruling issued Thursday, state Supreme Court Justice Dan Doyle has invalidated the town’s Local Law 3-2016.
Seneca Meadows claimed the Town Board violated elements of the State Environmental Quality Review process when introducing and adopting the local law, which requires the Seneca Meadows landfill to close its Route 414 facility by Dec. 31, 2025. SMI claims the town did not take the required “hard look” at the environmental impacts of closing the landfill and that board members were biased against the landfill. All five board members who voted on Local Law 3’s adoption are no longer on the board.
Seneca Meadows has applied for a state permit to expand the state’s largest landfill upward in a valley infill area. If granted, that could extend the life of the landfill until 2040, based on current deposit limits.
