Kingston committee hears concerns about landfill leachate, 'forever chemicals' and potential resolutions

Conservation Advisory Council members warned the Public Safety and General Government Committee that landfills’ leachate — the runoff that passes through buried waste — can carry persistent contaminants that sewage treatment plants may not remove.

Emily Hauser, representing the CAC, summarized recent work by Riverkeeper-associated researchers who say leachate transported to municipal sewage treatment plants can contain so-called "forever chemicals" and other contaminants not fully treated at wastewater facilities. Hauser said the group has circulated a draft resolution and noted a January 6 webinar that publicized the issue.

"What they're finding is that...the outflow at the sewage plant is, you know, they're not treating it," Hauser said, describing the researchers' concern that treated wastewater may still contain landfill-derived contaminants and that such discharges reach downstream drinking-water supplies.

Hauser said Kingston's resource recovery agency closed three landfills in the 1990s and that local plants have accepted leachate for decades; she described the problem as statewide and said activists and experts are urging regulatory changes. Possible local actions discussed included asking the state to change standards and requesting the city sewage treatment plant stop accepting leachate until treatment for persistent contaminants can be assured.

Committee members received the briefing as information only; no vote or directive was recorded. Hauser offered to provide the draft resolution to members who want to pursue the matter further.