Public getting louder voice
Environmental Justice zone label adds meeting to landfill permit process
The neighborhood abutting the S.A. Dunn construction and demolition debris landfill is now considered an Environmental Justice zone, which could complicate the controversial facility’s efforts to renew its state operating permit next year.
The designation, based on new census data, means there must be increased public outreach and efforts to get public participation in the renewal process. It also means the facility’s operators must conduct a public meeting on any future major permit modification applications, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said.
“This facility-led meeting, to be held after DEC approves S.A. Dunn’s required outreach plan, would not typically be required for a permit modification if the area did not have an Environmental Justice designation. Additionally, any determinations made regarding future permitting decisions for the facility will be subject to a comprehensive public comment period to provide the residents of Rensselaer ample opportunity to review all proposals, ask questions and share concerns,” according to a DEC statement.
The DEC updated its Environmental Justice map, “to confirm that Partition
Street is located in an Environmental Justice area,” Anthony Luisi, an acting DEC regional director, wrote in a recent letter to Robert Welton, one of the activists who believes the landfill should be closed.
Partition Street runs to the landfill, which is on Partition Street Extension. The street marks the northern boundary of the new zone. The landfill itself lies outside the zone, which is defined by moderate or high-poverty census blocs, or where many minorities live.
Welton welcomed the news. “I understand it means special outreach efforts will be required of the applicant to make sure everyone is fully informed of their rights and how they can provide input relating to the application,” he said in an email.
Dunn officials said they will continue to talk with the state, local leaders and their neighbors.
“We have every reason to believe S.A. Dunn will receive a fair and thorough review of current and future permit applications, and we will continue our open dialogue with regulators, local leaders, and our neighbors,” landfill manager Jeff Burrier said in an email.
The designation comes after the DEC earlier said that the renewal application must go through an “enhanced renewal process” due to concerns about the amount of truck traffic leading to the landfill, as well as dust and odors. The landfill operators, though, have in the last year, made provisions to control dust and odors with sprinklers and a gas collection system.
The landfill also abuts the city’s pre-k-to-12th grade school complex.
The concept of environmental justice centers on the idea that minority groups as well as the poor have over the years been disproportionately harmed by pollution since they often live in neighborhoods next to heavy industry areas or other sources of pollution, like rail yards, landfills or incinerators.
DEC’S map, at https://www.arcgis.com, shows the census blocks running to Partition Street with a poverty rate of 24 percent and a 21 percent minority population.
News of the Environmental Justice designation comes, Welton noted, two weeks after the city of Rensselaer Common Council approved a resolution asking the DEC and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to close the landfill.
Neighbors for years have complained about dust, odors and traffic. It’s one of a handful of construction and demolition debris landfills in the state and one of the largest. It was a gravel pit before being operating as a landfill in 2012, four years after the city’s new school complex was built next door.