Groups protest Marcellus Shale waste at Chemung County Landfill

By G. Jeffrey Aaron April 9, 2010, 7:20 pm

TOWN OF CHEMUNG -- Local and state environmental groups joined together Friday to protest the Marcellus Shale waste that is being disposed of at the Chemung County Landfill.

The groups conducted a press conference armed with studies warning about the hazards of disposing the potentially radioactive drill cuttings and backed by regional environmentalists concerned about the shale's contaminants finding their way into local drinking water supplies.

The Residents for the Preservation of Lowman and Chemung and People for a Healthy Environment released a study by Radioactive Waste Management Associates that said "the disposal of drill cuttings from horizontal wells into the Marcellus Shale at the Chemung County Landfill are likely to result in significant risks to human The two groups, in its presentation at Riverside Cemetery in the Town of Chemung, also presented a letter sent by the Residents Vice President Earl Robinson to State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo asking for a halt to dumping of Marcellus Shale waste at the local landfill.

Other information presented Friday included the threat to "pursue legal actions to stop the disposal of such wastes in New York landfills until a full analysis of the waste is completed."

"We're aware of Marcellus Shale drilling cuttings coming in the landfill and we know they are radioactive," said Robinson. "Our purpose was to inform the public. When the operation of the landfill was passed to Casella (Waste Systems the owner of the Chemung landfill), they said the operation of the landfill wouldn't change but we felt something like this was going to happen."

The local groups were joined by two members of the Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes.

"The public needs to know that what happens in Chemung County can set the precedent for the rest of the state," said Jack Ossont, of the Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes. "I'm concerned about limiting the spread to otherCasella-owned landfills."

Ossont, who said he's been active in environmental issues for 30 years, also said his group has sent letters to the state and the Department of Environmental Conservation, asking both offices to further investigate the issue.

Since last fall, from 1,000 to 2,000 tons of Marcellus drill cuttings have been brought weekly into the Chemung landfill.

At issue is a proposal to increase all tonnage received at the landfill from 120,000 to 180,000 tons per year. The proposed revisions would also permit the landfill's operator, Casella subsidiary New England Waste Services of New York, to make a single application for a permit to increase the capacity at the landfill to 417,000 tons annually. Otherwise it would have to first apply for a 280,000-ton permit before seeking the modification to 417,000 tons.

In return, Chemung County would receive $5 million by April 30, which would be placed in a county tax stabilization fund. That initial payment would be followed by payments of $1 million in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The county would also be forgiven the payments it has received from Casella totaling about $1.6 million as well as receiving $100,000 community development payments from Casella for the next 15 years.

The Chemung County Legislature is expected to vote on the revisions Monday.

But Robinson and others who are leery about the proposed increase say the money promised by the landfill operator is blinding the county's eyes to the potential for environmental damage caused by the radioactive materials and heavy metals contained in the drill cuttings.

"The new agreement is all about money and we want the date of the Legislature's vote to be pushed back," said Robinson. "The money is the motivating factor over the health concerns. The City of Elmira is saying 'no', the Town of Chemung might sue and the public is outraged."

Detectors questioned

Robinson also said he isn't putting a lot of faith in the effectiveness of the detectors for radioactive materials Casella plans to install at the Chemung landfill by the end of April.

However, Casella District Manager Larry Shilling said the radiation detectors and the DEC's analysis of drill-cutting samples should be enough to effectively monitor the drill cuttings coming into the landfill.

"Pennsylvania requires radiation detectors at every landfill," Shilling said. "They've been doing it for about six months and nothing has set off the alarms. We anticipate the same thing here. The detectors are simple to operate; an alarm goes off and the employees then go through the steps."

In addition to the Chemung landfill, Shilling said two other Casella-operated landfills -- one in Painted Post and the other in Allegany County -- also receive Marcellus Shale and all three are getting detectors.

Shilling also said that while the cuttings contain relatively low levels of radioactive materials, of greater concern is the liquid that comes up with the gas after the well is in production -- a liquid waste material that can't be taken to solid-waste disposal sites -- and the sludge created when the liquid is treated before disposal.

"We can take the sludge, but whether we do or not will depend on what the testing shows, and at this stage, there's not enough of it out there," said Shilling. "What we are taking is the waste from the, the cuttings from the drilling and we will install the detectors to make sure nothing too radioactive comes in."