Residents urge denial of Seneca Meadows operating permit, cite air and health concerns

Dozens of residents told the Seneca Falls Town Board they experience frequent, strong landfill odors from the Seneca Meadows facility and urged the board to deny the landfill's 2025 operating permit. Supervisor (speaker 1) announced the board will hold a special meeting on Jan. 21 at the Seneca Falls Rec Center to consider the permit and related factors.

Heather Venetti, a Seneca Falls resident, told the board that the town’s "It's a Wonderful Life" festival draws thousands of visitors and that allowing an expansion or renewed permit "would be to jeopardize not only our town's present, but also the future." Jean Gilroy said she endured a continuous 13-hour odor episode and reported that Seneca Metals' first report acknowledged odor detection. "I smelled the landfill 13 hours," Gilroy said, arguing the hotline response did not stop persistent emissions.

Representatives of nearby businesses also described workplace impacts. Rich Swinehart of Waterloo Container said his employees have experienced nausea and headaches that he attributes to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and said his firm will provide air-testing evidence: "We will be providing evidence in the very near future that when you can smell the air... the H2S levels are above what's recommended," he said. Several commenters urged the board to invite DEC and state legislators to the Jan. 21 meeting to participate in a conversation about the permit and monitoring.

The supervisor noted the town received 58 letters and emails on the landfill, 53 of them negative and 5 positive, and emphasized the Jan. 21 special meeting will be devoted to the permit discussion. The board did not make a final decision on the permit at this regular meeting; the scheduled special meeting is the next procedural step.