New Hampshire Supreme Court hears challenge on permit for Turnkey Landfill expansion

An environmental law organization has urged the New Hampshire Supreme Court to send a permit for the Turnkey Landfill expansion back to the state Department of Environmental Services (DES) after a regulatory board tied over the provision of the permit, reports the New Hampshire Union Leader.

The 3-3 tied vote by the state Waste Management Council kept alive the permit, the last of six granted by the DES for a 59-acre expansion of the Rochester landfill.

During oral arguments on Nov. 17, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), Boston, Massachusetts, said the wording of one provision of the permit was too vague.

According to the Union Leader, the provision requires Houston-based Waste Management, which operates the landfill, to demonstrate that its customers have diverted 30 percent of their trash from the waste stream.

CLF worries that the vague wording will allow Waste Management to claim credit for diverting waste that it is not allowed to accept at its landfill, such as tires and appliances. That would mean no impact on the goal of expanded recycling and other waste reduction measures.

“Flexibility in this context doesn’t make sense,” CLF director Tom Irwin told four justices during oral arguments. The waste management company already claims it diverts 34 percent of its potential waste stream, he noted.

CLF wants the Supreme Court to send the permit back to DES for more specific language; however, DES favors the permit as written.

A Supreme Court decision on the matter involves the final permit the agency will need to issue before the expansion begins, according to Jim Martin, a spokesman for the DES. Permits have already been issued for solid waste, terrain alteration, wetlands, groundwater management, air emissions and air-emissions/construction.

The Turnkey Landfill has been operating since 1979 and secured permits for multiple expansions. The permit, allowing for 15.9 million cubic yards of trash, will run to 2034.