High Acres landfill in Perinton gets its hand slapped by state for odor issues

For the first time since it opened in 1971, High Acres Landfill in Perinton has officially violated New York state's solid waste management regulations, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The DEC has filed a Notice of Violation that was sent to Waste Management on Feb 2.

“We are taking the notice we received late last week from the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) very seriously. This is the first such notice that the facility has received in its nearly five-decade history of operation," said Jeff Richardson, senior district manager of the facility. 

Fairport Central School District, the town and residents of Perinton and Macedon have been actively looking for change as the stench of the landfill has impacted their daily lives. 

Jan. 17, 2018:High Acres Landfill impact: What's next for Perinton?

Dec. 7, 2017:What's that smell? Odor from High Acres landfill rankles residents

Paul D'Amato, DEC region 8 director, said the Notice of Violation shows that his agency is taking people's complaints seriously and establishes new rules that the landfill must follow.

Town residents called out the DEC at a January Conservation Board Meeting for not having strict enough regulations. 

The DEC finalized revisions in November that overhauled and strengthened state regulations concerning solid waste, called "Part 360," after about 20 years. 

"The fact that the NYSDEC has since issued a Notice of Violation against Waste Management demonstrates just how clearly NYSDEC heard the town's concerns," Perinton Town Supervisor Mike Barker said in a statement. 

The town of Perinton's Conservation Board made 10 recommendations for the town to adopt and enforce on Waste Management. Barker said the DEC has verbally agreed to enforce the new regulations, as well as some of their own.

D'Amato said the DEC  plans to "formally respond to the town, recommendation by recommendation." That letter is expected to accept most of what was proposed by the town. Although some of the new proposals do not need to be handled by the department, such as Perinton's request to have a resource on the town's website for questions. 

In the violation notice, Waste Management was told the new requirements went into effect immediately. 

A statement from Waste Management said High Acres Landfill intends to comply with these requirements.

"We see the DEC's supportive actions as a highly positive step in ending the odor issues," Barker said, noting the town is excited to see that High Acres has compliance deadlines to meet. 

Macedon's Deputy Town Supervisor Paul Kenyon said Macedon will "continue to work positively with WM in their efforts to resolve the issues." Kenyon is confident that the landfill has the technology and resources to bring about positive results.

"I know that DEC has recently issued some directives with deadlines and they swing more weight than we, the Town (of Macedon), do," he said. 

The Facebook group "Fresh Air for the Eastside" created a grassroots effort to confront, collect data and create change concerning operations at Waste Management. In a statement, the group's director Gary McNeil said the "community will not rest until the odors are gone for an extended period of time and do not reoccur. We are cautiously optimistic that DEC is now comprehending the seriousness of the situation by adopting the Perinton Conservation Board recommendations, and are eager to continue working with DEC to come to a permanent solution." 

In a letter to the community, Waste Management's Area Vice President Christopher DeSantis wrote that Waste Management's senior leadership team is committed to using resources to resolve the issue to the community's satisfaction. 

However, the letter from Waste Management indicated that current construction has the potential to cause temporary, intermittent odors through completion.

"We recognize the seriousness of the increased odor issues, are working hard to mitigate them, and are truly grateful for any patience and understanding that the community can provide to us as we address these issues,” Richardson said. 

More:Perinton adopts 10 recommendations to minimize odors from landfill

More:Fairport school district says stench from landfill is impacting classes

Waste Management is expected to go back to the Conservation Board concerning another 10 issues that are addressed yearly. However, High Acres is not expected to be addressed at the conservation meeting Tuesday. High Acres is not on Tuesday's agenda. 

An unofficial tweet that was sent from "@TownofPerinton" said "come help us break last meeting's attendance record." But according to Barker, this is not an official account from the town and the town does not have a Twitter account at this time.

MEFINNERTY@Gannett.com 

DEC's new requirements 

1. Complete all odor reduction measures that were approved by the DEC in Dec. 2017.

2. All new cells will have horizontal gas collectors. 

3. When the retrofit of cells 10 and 11 is completed, create a slope for storm water management. Additionally at that time, Waste Management will stop adding waste to those cells until the odor event is resolved.

Although this does not mean that waste is not being added to cell 11 or 12. Adding waste is needed to continue the current construction project in cell 11, the DEC said.

Perinton's recommendations told Waste Management to "immediately suspend all municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal in Perinton until WM can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the NYSDEC that all mitigation and compliance measures have been met and demonstrated effective in odor emissions."

4. By no later than Feb 28, submit a plan for additional geo-membrane cover for cells 10 and 11.

5. By no later than Feb 16, create a plan with Fairport Central School District for air monitoring.

6. Make the new action level for methane at 200 parts per million, instead of 500 ppm. When methane levels reach 200 ppm, provide a community update as well as notify the town and DEC. 

7. By no later than Feb. 16, Waste Management will propose Hydrogen Sulfide real-time measuring. The results should be reported to the town and DEC. 

8. Waste Management will maintain and keep current measures used to prevent vibrations. No later than Feb 16, Waste Management is to submit a copy to the DEC of standard operating procedures for that system. 

9. By no later than Feb 23, Waste Management is to submit a plan for back up power used for gas-control systems, in the event of a power outage. 

10. By no later than Feb 16, Waste Management will collect a sample of landfill gas and have results analyzed.