Rensselaer landfill a hazard to residents

residents are fed up with the actions of local and state government agencies. In 2012, both the city and the state approved the operation of a construction and demolition debris landfill in the city. The landfill was approved after public outrage from dozens of city residents and environmental activists.

Over the past couple of years, the effects of the S.A. Dunn & Co. landfill off Partition Street have had many negative impacts on city residents.

Since the summer of 2017, residents have been smelling horrible rotten egg odors daily, often associated with a type of gas that is emitted when gypsum board decomposes. The odors are so bad that residents cannot open their windows during warmer weather.

Joseph Kardash, Rensselaer City School District superintendent, said odors can also be smelled on the school property (“Landfill could be target of lawsuit, neighbors told,” Jan. 15). The school district campus is next to the landfill.

As concerns continue to grow over the landfill, the city administration is working to approve a new waste-to-energy facility in the port. The new facility would allow hundreds of municipal trash trucks to come in to the city six days a week. Waste deposited at the facility would then sit in underground pits where the material would be dried out and then shredded. The end-product from the facility would become a fuel source that could be used to replace coal.

Both facilities have caused great concerns for city residents who say city officials are turning Rensselaer into the state’s largest trash city.

David Ellis Rensselaer