Casella applies for permit to construct New Hampshire landfill

Grant State Landfill LLC (GSL), a subsidiary of Rutland, Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems, has applied for a solid waste facility permit for its site in Dalton, New Hampshire. The landfill would be constructed a little under a half mile from Forest Lake State Park.  

The proposed 70-acre lined landfill is intended to replace the North Country Environmental Services Landfill in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, which will stop accepting waste in 2028. Casella says the project is necessary so it can continue to provide uninterrupted disposal capacity to citizens and businesses in the 150 New Hampshire cities it serves. 

New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) reports Casella has been seeking a landfill in Dalton for the last five years. The current iteration of the proposal is 20 feet shorter than the last proposed landfill and would be able to accept 1,800 tons of waste every day for 18 years. 

RELATED: Casella applies for wetlands permit to build New Hampshire landfill

In a “public benefit demonstration” published by Casella, the company commits to building a material recovery facility (MRF) to divert recyclables and “complement” the construction of the landfill. The document also shares plans for GSL to conserve 50 percent of the landfill’s capacity for disposal of in-state waste and outlines how the project would assist in meeting the state’s waste diversion goals. The goals include reducing the weight of solid waste by 25 percent by 2030 and 45 percent by 2050.

As previously reported by Waste Today, residents of Dalton share opposing views on the proposed landfill. Some welcome the revenue a new landfill could bring, while others are concerned about the environmental impact, specifically on Forest Lake.

In the NHPR report, Jon Swan, Dalton’s conservation commission chair, says he does not want the landfill to become home to trash from neighboring states. 

“People within the state of New Hampshire have come to realize that we don’t want to be the dumping ground for New England waste,” he says. “And that’s what’s being proposed, in essence.”

State regulators say it could take more than a year to consider Casella’s permit application. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services says the public will be given an opportunity to comment during the permitting process.