by Daniel Duric, for the Newport Dispatch
NEWPORT — Vermont’s Environmental Court ruled that New England Waste Systems Inc. requires an Act 250 permit amendment to convert its leachate pretreatment system at the Coventry landfill from a pilot program to a permanent installation.
Judge Thomas Walsh handed down the decision on January 27, affirming a Jurisdictional Opinion issued by the Act 250 District #7 Environmental Commission Coordinator on January 25, 2025.
Don’t Undermine Memphremagog’s Purity Inc., known as DUMP, had requested the Jurisdictional Opinion, which the commission coordinator agreed with, stating that NEWSVT’s leachate pretreatment system would require an amended permit if the company sought to convert the experimental system to a permanent installation.
NEWSVT, a subsidiary of Casella Waste Systems Inc., appealed the Jurisdictional Opinion to the Environmental Court. Vermont’s Land Use Review Board defended the opinion.
In his decision, Judge Walsh stated the court concluded NEWSVT requires an Act 250 permit amendment to convert the pilot pretreatment system to a permanent installation.
The leachate pretreatment system, known as SAFF, partially removes hazardous and toxic PFAS chemicals from landfill leachate. According to DUMP, the system has been fully operational since September 2023, though the official “pilot” is not scheduled to begin until the second quarter of 2026, according to a NEWSVT spokesperson at a recent landfill oversight meeting.
Currently, the leachate pretreatment system is required to be staffed 24/7 and no leachate is permitted to be imported for pretreatment. Once the pilot concludes after 180 days, there is no certainty those requirements would remain in place.
DUMP asserts that the SAFF technology does not meet the highest standards for PFAS removal. Effluent discharged from the system still contains significant amounts of PFAS chemicals, which have been proven to cause negative health effects in people and animals exposed to contaminated water and food.
“DUMP welcomes the decision of the Environmental Court affirming that the leachate pretreatment system will be subject to review under Act 250,” said Chris Jacobs, DUMP co-founder and board chair. “That will force NEWSVT to make its case before the District 7 Environmental Commission. The people of the Northeast Kingdom will finally have an opportunity for real public participation, to identify the long-range negative impacts on the Lake Memphremagog watershed.”