Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2023.The Finger Lakes community surrounding the Seneca Meadows landfill rallied alongside local environment groups during a Zoom conference on Tuesday, demanding the on-time closure of both the nearly 400-acre facility and its renewable natural gas energy operation Seneca Energy by 2025 due to concerns over its impacts on human health and the environment.
The upstate landfill already takes in 6,000 metric tons of trash each day, and nearly a third of that refuse comes from New York City. That’s the equivalent of about 30 Statues of Liberty daily. The facility also produces renewable natural gas and electricity by capturing methane emitted by garbage. Its 18-megawatt gas-fired processing plant is owned by Archaea Energy, recently acquired by oil giant BP. According to the company’s accounting, its plan would violate carbon emissions limits set by the CLCPA.