UNITED COALITION
Rensselaer Environmental Coalition calls for immediate closure of Dunn Landfill
The Dunn Landfill was built in 2015, in very close proximity to the Rensselaer City School District buildings.
RENSSELAER, N.Y. » The Rensselaer Environmental Coalition hosted a news conference Saturday at the Rensselaer Public Library, in which many speakers voiced their opinions on why the Dunn Construction and Demolition Landfill needs to close immediately.
The Coalition was formed in 2019, as an outgrowth of previous community groups advocating for the landfill’s closure.
The Dunn Landfill was built in 2015, in very close proximity to the Rensselaer City School District buildings. The REC’s primary argument for closing the landfill is its detrimental effects on air quality, noise pollution, and long-term health risks to students. REC and its allies claim that in the last year, those effects have become significantly worse.
At the news conference, people spoke out about the odors in the air, increased health concerns with their children, and the continued efforts to get the DEC to take action. Present at the conference were many city residents and allies, Rensselaer mayor Mike Stammel, members of the East Greenbush town board, and candidates for state and federal positions who support the call to close the landfill.
“The dumpis a bad neighbor and it cannot be made into a good neighbor,” said Tom Ellis, of the REC.
Rensselaer resident and mother of eight Heather Trentacosta described the ripple effect that the landfill’s presence was having on her whole family.
Before starting the 2019 school year, only one of her children had an asthma diagnosis and used a rescue inhaler. Now, several of her children require the use of inhalers. Trentacosta said her children are missing lots of school because they are constantly being sent home sick.
When that happens, she said she has to cut into her work schedule to pick up her kids and take care of them.
The DEC placed four odor monitors around the landfill’s perimeter in April 2019, but those monitors have been offline since Nov. 21 since they don’t work in cold weather. Since last year, Rensselaer residents have been doing their own monitoring through a website called ItStinks.org, set up and run by the REC to document the effects of the landfill on the community.
Since its startup in June 2019, ItStinks.org has logged over 1,000 comments about bad odors and symptoms of illness from city residents.
Dr. David Carpenter, a professor at the UAlbany School of Public Health, gave a talk outlining the effects that the landfill’s dust and odors have on the public school community.
Carptenter said the worst outcome of having a landfill so close to a school is “a reduced ability to learn.”
He noted this is caused by several factors. One is chronic health effects resulting in an inability to focus - it’s hard to pay attention if you’re constantly coughing, having trouble breathing, or suffering a bad headache. Or, symptoms could be bad enough that a student becomes sick and has to go home, missing time at school altogether.
Another factor is the odors, described by many people at the conference as “overwhelming,” being a major source of distraction for students and teachers. A third factor is the damage caused by the hydrogen sulfide gas from the landfill that can stunt brain growth and development.
Speakers at the news conference also described efforts to contact the DECabout the landfill, only to have questions left unanswered and complaints dismissed with
“blanket statements” such as “we’re looking into it.”
The REC has support fromthe town of East Greenbush in this matter. Town board member Rick Matters said that “DEC is dropping the ball,” and working together at the town and city level is key to finding success. The Dunn Landfilll’s permit is up for renewal in a year and a half, and REC and its allies are hoping to prevent it. “We’re all together on this,” Matters said, making the announcement of an East Greenbush public hearing in March. At the hearing, town residents will be able to weigh in on the situation with their opinions. Stammel stated this is not the state’s first construction debris landfill, so “DEC should have known better” when it was built. “With the force that we have here, we’ve done very well with getting the word out, and I’d like to continue that until we shut it down,” Stammel said. In response to the public’s demand for the landfill’s closure, division landfill manager Jeff Burrier, an employee of Waste Connections, the parent company that owns the landfill, issued the following statement: “SA Dunn is committed to the health and safety of our employees, neighbors, and local businesses. Any effort to spread fear and disinformation is misguided and a disservice to the community. We’ve invested in state- of- the- art environmental technology, and are continuing to improve infrastructure on site to be the best partner we can be.
“Additionally, we are in the process of securing permits for the construction of a $1.5 million berm between our facility and the Rensselaer School. Our efforts to protect air quality is paying off. Significant air quality monitoring, and full-time DEC staff on site has documented our facility does not impact the health of our neighbors.
“We’re proud of the positive economic impact we have on the area. SA Dunn provides millions of dollars to the City of Rensselaer and North Greenbush through host community agreements to fund critical services and hold the line on local taxes, as well as funding scholarships for Rensselaer students. We will continue to work every day with local elected leaders and regulators, and look forward to being a part of Rensselaer’s bright future for years to come.”
At the conclusion of the news conference, REC announced its next steps are to encourage detailed documentation of landfill-related concerns, including bloodwork and testing for students to document health issues and continued use of ItStinks.org - the only publicly available survey system regarding effects of the landfill on the community.
They are also strongly encouraging attendance at a DEC public availability session on Feb. 27 in the Rensselaer City School cafeteria from 5:30-7:30 pm.
“Ask themhard questions, and don’t let them get away with a soft answer,” encouraged Peter Finn, the REC member behind ItStinks.org.
REC activity can be followed on FaceBook at http:// facebook.com/DunnLandfill.