November 9, 2020 (CONCORD, NH) – Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has filed an appeal of Casella Waste’s state permit to expand its landfill in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. The landfill was initially denied a permit but was then granted one by the Department of Environmental Services after the company re-applied.
“Continuing to expand polluting landfills is the last thing New Hampshire needs,” said Tom Irwin, Vice President and Director of CLF New Hampshire. “The state got it right the first time when it determined there is no need for this landfill expansion. It’s time – at long last – for New Hampshire to make good on its policy of reducing waste, rather perpetuating its burial of waste in landfills and putting our communities at risk.”
New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services recently completed an analysis of the state’s waste and found that half of the total waste disposed of is from out of state. Expanding landfill capacity simply allows more out-of-state waste to be trucked into New Hampshire for the benefit of private waste companies.
CLF has been actively pushing for state regulators to advance New Hampshire’s solid waste management hierarchy, which favors waste reduction and recycling and ranks landfilling as the least preferable option. CLF is also currently involved in a lawsuit against Casella as a result of pollution from this landfill being discharged into the Ammonoosuc River.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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