nolakedump

Everything But Transparent

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 15:26:25 GMT

Everything Except Transparent

DUMP continues its fight to shine a spotlight on the $2.5 million Surface Active Foam Fractionation (SAFF) landfill leachate pretreatment system that has been in place and operating at the NEWSVT Inc. landfill in Coventry since 2023. The SAFF is supposed to remove PFAS (“forever chemicals”) from the leachate before it gets shipped to the City of Montpelier sewage plant for final treatment. So far there have been no real opportunities for the people of the Northeast Kingdom and Quebec to participate in a public review of the system. DUMP’s fight is to force NEWSVT to file an application for review under Vermont’s Act 250 program – that will mean a public forum to consider all of the impacts of the SAFF system.

The operation of the SAFF creates PFAS “residuals” in a concentrated form and these dangerous residuals are merely tossed back into the landfill for “disposal”. There has already been a spill of over 8,000 gallons of leachate from the SAFF into the stormwater collection system at the landfill. Last year the air quality division of the Agency of Natural Resources decided that a permit was not needed for the SAFF after all-even though the company had filed for a permit 8 months prior. DUMP opposed the decision of the air quality division. Now, over a year later, the division is reversing its decision and will require a permit for the pollutant emissions from the SAFF.

The SAFF (now being run as a “pre-pilot” project with no reporting required. The official pilot is due to start in Q2 of 2026. The project has been designed to eventually become a permanent fixture at the landfill) represents serious long term concerns for Lake Memphremagog and the people of the Northeast. There is reason to believe that leachate will be imported to Coventry from other landfills for pretreatment. Once the SAFF is allowed to become a permanent facility then the question is whether the next step by NEWSVT will be to construct a privately owned plant for final treatment of the leachate before it is discharged into the Black River. Even if NEWSVT does not pursue a private treatment plant, the threat is real that it will seek to end the “moratorium” on the use of the City of Newport sewage plant for disposal of the “pretreated” leachate -and that will mean discharges with contaminants into the Lake.

DUMP succeeded in getting a ruling from Act 250 that the SAFF requires a permit. NEWSVT appealed that decision to the Vermont Superior Court. The lawyers for NEWSVT have been raising every possible obstacle to block DUMP from participating in the appeal and defending the ruling that an Act 250 review is necessary. NEWSVT and its corporate lawyers argue everything except in favor of a transparent review for the people of the Northeast Kingdom and Quebec . DUMP will continue “to fight the good fight” on behalf of the Lake and the residents of the Kingdom. Join us in the fight, click here .

More information on the SAFF fight will be available at DUMP’s first Annual Meeting of our members on October 29th at the East Side Restaurant. Watch your inbox for details. We hope to see you there!

www.nolakedump.org

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Don’t Undermine Memphremagog’s Purity, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Donations are deductible as allowed by law.

October 3, 2025

Henry Coe and DUMP receive MCI Award

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 18:28:57 GMT

Henry Coe and DUMP honored with prestigious Gordon-Kohl award.

During its 58th annual general meeting held on Saturday, June 19 ^th at the Magog Community Centre, Memphremagog Conservation (MCI) made a heartfelt call for citizens to get involved in the preservation of Lake Memphremagog and its watershed. Johanne Lavoie, the organization's volunteer president, emphasized: 'Every action counts to protect this natural treasure , threatened by the loss of natural habitats and the effects of climate change. Together, we can act for future generations!'

Ms. Lavoie emphasized, 'You also have a key role to play in preserving this essential drinking water reservoir and its unique ecosystems. Together, we can ensure the future of Lake Memphremagog and its surroundings for generations to come.”

A special presentation on the Coventry NEWSVT landfill site was featured, highlighting the fifth anniversary of the moratorium on the discharge of Coventry NEWSVT landfill leachate into Lake Memphremagog, the drinking water reservoir for nearly 185,000 Canadians. Millions of gallons of leachate from the Coventry NEWSVT landfill, containing thousands of contaminants, including “forever” PFAS chemicals, were discharged into the Newport wastewater treatment facility on Lake Memphremagog between 2010 and 2019, when the moratorium was imposed . Thanks to a battle worthy of David and Goliath, led by the grassroots environmental organization, Don’t Undermine Memphremagog’s Purity, or DUMP, the moratorium has prevented the disposal of millions more gallons of leachate into the lake or watershed ever since.

MCI granted the prestigious 2025 MCI Gordon-Kohl Award to Mr. Henry Coe, founder of DUMP , honored for his unwavering commitment to the protection of Lake Memphremagog. Alarmed by the potential environmental impact of the Coventry landfill, he mobilized against its expansion in 2018, contacting Mr. Robert Benoit of MCI, which led to the creation of the DUMP organization. DUMP engaged in mediation with the NEWSVT landfill, securing the historic moratorium on the discharge of leachate into the Lake Memphremagog watershed.

DUMP, together with MCI, will continue the fight for environmental protection and environmental justice for the Memphremagog region. “A permanent ban on disposal of landfill leachate anywhere in the Memphremagog watershed is our common goal”, declared Mr. Coe. “Protecting the drinking water reservoir of our Quebec neighbors, and the ecosystem we all depend upon, is our priority.”

Quebec’s MCI and their American partner, DUMP, are not letting up on their efforts to protect international Lake Memphremagog. There are still many issues related to water quality, given the presence of Vermont’s only landfill, so poorly sited near the Black River and South Bay of Lake Memphremagog. The threat posed by the experimental leachate pretreatment pilot project on site in Coventry is a current focus of concern.

MCI was honored by the presence of the federal members of Parliament, Mr. Louis Villeneuve and Mrs. Marianne Dandurand, and Sherbrooke counsellors, Annie Godbout and Christelle Lefèvre. No doubt this international environmental issue caught their attention.

In the photo, among those present were Johanne Lavoie, president of the MCI organization (5 ^th from left), Teresa Gerade, member of the DUMP organization (middle row, 4 ^th from right); and Peggy Stevens, Chris Jacobs, Henry Coe, recipient of the Gordon-Kohl Award, and Effie Brown, all members of the DUMP organization (extreme right).

Source Johanne Lavoie, MCI volunteer president

819-238-3895 Email: johanne.lavoie@memphremagog.org

Submitted with MCI permission by Peggy Stevens

802-723-5951 pegnericstevens@gmail.com

Vermont's Solid Waste Conundrum - Cruise Control and a Monopoly Don't Protect Us

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 18:10:38 GMT

Enough of kicking the (trash) can down the road

With the many challenges our state government faces, there’s one challenge flying under the radar. A single corporation, Casella, has been given the keys to drive Vermont’s solid waste “tractor-trailer.” Many other state governments recognize that solid waste management is a necessary part of public utilities and infrastructure. They choose to address and manage the challenge. We choose to wash our hands of it.

We have one landfill operating in the small community of Coventry in the NEK (population around 1,000). 80% of our trash ends up there along with trash including asbestos and other “special wastes” from out of state. Effectively a multi-billion dollar corporation accountable to stockholders calls the shots. It determines the fees haulers pay and in turn what businesses and residents pay. No public service commission is in place to ensure the monopoly doesn’t unduly harm the interests of customers in the way of fair pricing in the absence of competition. How did we let this happen?

The lone landfill is far removed from the population centers where the vast majority of trash is generated. Vermont’s approach to solid waste management is designed to maximize fossil fuel consumption, maximize generation of greenhouse gasses (GHG) and maximize wear and tear of state and local roads. You have undoubtedly seen the tractor trailers plying our roads without recognizing just what those trailers are hauling. A survey done several years ago found 65 trucks coming and going to and from the landfill in just a two hour period. It was also estimated that nearly 20,000 miles are travelled daily by trucks coming from the various transfer stations just in Vermont.

Beyond the fossil fuel, GHG and road impacts, the landfill also generates leachate (aka garbage juice). The leachate contains arsenic, cadmium and an encyclopedia’s worth of PFAS (forever chemicals) among other toxins. Some of that leachate is trucked to the Montpelier waste water treatment plant (more fossil fuel, GHG and road impact) for partial processing before discharge to the Winooski River and then Lake Champlain. Some discharges enter the wetlands of the Black River which flows into Lake Memphremagog -a public water supply for 175,000 Canadians. ANR did halt the dumping of partially processed leachate into Lake Memphremagog for now, but that is not a permanent halt. It is worth noting that Memphremagog hosts a population of catfish where some 40% of the fish sampled show malignant melanomas. Memphremagog is the only lake in Vermont to have such affected fish. The cause of the melanomas remains unknown, however researchers have found these cancerous fish only in environmentally contaminated waters.

Alternate landfill sites that are hydro-geologically secure have been identified by the state yet no work is currently being done to bring them online. We are on cruise control knowing the Coventry landfill will reach capacity in some 20 years. What is our Plan B and why have we not begun work on opening a site closer to where the trash is generated and away from a precious water resource? Surely Casella Corporation has a plan b in hand. Why are we not in open discussion about that?

Vermont is operating on the basis of the magical trash bin…put your trash in the bin at night and in the morning it will magically be gone! Voila! Problem solved! We are living in a bubble subject to a monopoly, trusting that public interests will be fully protected by Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources. To date, that trust has been broken as evidenced by the current Rube Goldberg approach to managing our trash and the toxic trash sent to us from out of state as well as the trucking of leachate to Montpelier. This state should set the gold standard, instead we are a throwback to a time long past.

Enough of kicking the (trash) can down the road. Out of sight, out of mind should not be the basis of Vermont’s public policy.

Effie Brown, Derby

Teresa Gerade, Newport

S. Christopher Jacobs, Albany

Polly Jones, Manchester and Derby

Pam Ladds, Newport

Ann Lembo, Albany

Walter Medwid, Derby

Gillian Staniforth, Derby

Public Meeting regarding the landfill in Coventry - DUMP voices concerns

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 01:39:08 GMT

NEWSVT requests Solid Waste Certification Amendment for Leachate Treatment System

A Public Meeting was held in Coventry on 3/12/2025
NEWSVT Application for Amendment at the Coventry Landfill

The Solid Waste Management Program has issued a draft certification amendment for comment:
“The amendment is to provide the ability to increase the amount of liquid surface-active foam fractionation (SAFF) concentrate storage in the Pre-treatment building certified under 2nd Major Amendment (2/13/2023). The storage increase from 100 gallons to 7,500 gallons allows for more efficient treatment intervals and/or more logistical transport opportunities for off-site treatment/disposal.”

Members of DUMP were present to ask questions and voice concerns.

You can view the meeting and hear our concerns thanks to NEK-TV's recording here .

The Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation gave this presentation.

The certification draft amendment 2A can be found at: https://enb.vermont.gov/?id=24867 .
You can submit a comment through 3/27 on the Environmental Notice Bulletin (ENB) site link shown above.

Legislation affecting environmental health and safety in the Northeast Kingdom

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 02:30:46 GMT

Protecting the health and safety of our environment, public, wildlife and economy must be our legislative priority.

I recently wrote to NEK legislators in support of Rep. Woody Page’s “lake in crisis” legislation. I encourage all readers to write or call their representatives to ask that they support this bill.

It is a bill that will protect one of our region’s most valuable natural water resources, Lake Memphremagog, and the people, fish and wildlife that depend upon it, including the 175,000 Quebec neighbors whose drinking water reservoir is the lake.

Protecting one of the NEK’s jewels, Lake Memphremagog, and its tributaries, from phosphorus pollution or contamination from hazardous effluent from any type or source, must be a priority for our legislators.

Woody Page recognizes this priority and has stood up often to testify to the importance of protecting our water resources for our people, our fish and wildlife, and our tourist/recreational economy.

It is my hope that H.113 will be passed this session, with support from a unified NEK coalition, so that this bill, and all others that focus on protecting our NEK and Vermont natural resources from all forms of environmental contamination, will cross the finish line in 2025.

On the other hand, I wrote to the same legislators to request no support for H.152 , which would eliminate the requirement for permitting and public input for “pilot” treatment technologies for landfill emissions, including leachate and landfill gas emissions. These emissions contain many hazardous chemicals, including PFAS, which are a well-documented threat to the health and safety of the environment and public health. The opportunity to publicly identify concerns about insufficient technologies before they are piloted will be eliminated if H.152 passes.

I would support an entirely different bill, requiring experimental pilot projects to adhere strictly to permitting requirements and manufacturer’s recommendations, supported by the latest scientific research and overseen by informed and objective third parties, including the public.

Protecting the health and safety of our environment, public, wildlife and economy must be our legislative priority, as well as protecting the right of the public to weigh in on proposals such as pilot treatment technologies for hazardous emissions from landfill or other sources.

Peggy Stevens

Charleston

Leachate Leak

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 21:42:35 GMT

A SAFF Violation Press Release

SAFF Violation Press Release
From: Don’t Undermine Memphremagog’s Purity (DUMP)
March 2, 2024

Nearly 9,000 gallons of toxic leachate escape from the Coventry landfill.

Almost 9,000 gallons of leachate—an environmentally toxic liquid byproduct of landfills—leaked late last month from the Casella-owned and operated NEWSVT landfill in Coventry, following a “malfunction” by an experimental—and unpermitted—leachate treatment system.

“This environmental crisis occurred just as DUMP has feared and has warned the Vermont State Department of Environmental Conservation,” said DUMP chair Henry Coe. “DUMP strongly objects to the fact that the treatment system has been operating in violation of state law—without a permit yet being issued— for at least six months.”

The leak was reported in a March 1 letter (attached) from Casella-owned New England Waste Services of Vermont to the Agency of Natural Resources. The letter said the leak occurred Saturday, Feb. 24, at the landfill, located near the Black River, which flows into Lake Memphremagog—a drinking water source for at least 175,000 Quebec citizens. At least 2,845 gallons escaped into the surrounding environment, the letter noted.

While the leachate treatment system includes “multiple levels of fail-safe features…all the measures failed to alarm and engage despite weekly observation and maintenance,” the letter said.

“The letter attempts to explain efforts to respond and to clean up the spilled toxic leachate, but no objective third party has yet evaluated the letter’s veracity,” Coe said. “Nor does it disclose how NEWSVT personnel were made aware of the leak. The system, which according to NEWSVT is operational 24/7, is staffed only 8 hours a day, five days a week, and 2 hours on the weekend.“ The leak occurred on a Saturday.

It’s not the first time toxic chemicals, including “forever chemicals” such as PFAS and other cancer-causing substances, have escaped from a Casella-owned dump. “It’s similar to a leak that occurred at a Casella-owned landfill in Bethlehem, NH, where the same inadequate staffing pattern resulted in a leak going undetected, allowing for many thousands of gallons of leachate to escape into the environment,” Coe said.

In public comments on the permit for the leachate treatment technology in December, 2023, DUMP took issue with the proposed plan, including the inadequate staffing pattern. DUMP has also made the Department of Environmental Conservation aware that they have failed to enforce the law.

“We also strongly object to the fact that Act 250 District 7 Commission has also failed to do their job, allowing this experimental pilot NEWSVT system to be fully operational without the required permit,” Coe added.

“Due diligence has not been done by the State of Vermont when it comes to protecting the health and safety of the environment and public health by allowing the unpermitted operation of an experimental system for leachate treatment on the landfill,” Coe said.

Where Are the Watchdogs?

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 21:38:22 GMT

Casella's Risky Gamble with Public Safety

On Thursday, March 13th, Vermont Public hosted underwriter John Casella on Vermont Edition to talk about the February 24th spill of nearly 9,000 gallons of toxic landfill leachate on Casella’s NEWSVT Coventry landfill.

Mr. Casella represented the spill as “a risk” associated with innovation, one that we should just accept as a fact of life as the NEWSVT takes on the experimental treatment of leachate to filter for harmful leachate PFAS contaminants.

There is no question how dangerous PFAS chemicals are to environmental and human health, and why it is so essential to figure out how to safely filter PFAS from leachate. The approach NEWSVT is taking, at the direction of the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR), to filter leachate- may be innovative, but it is not inherently “risky”.

The accidental spill on Feb 24th of toxic landfill leachate, due to a system malfunction that occurred when no staff were required to be on duty, was a “risk” that was completely predictable, preventable and should never have happened. Would a maple sugar-maker leave the sugar house untended- arch fires blazing- and then blame it on an unavoidable “risk” when the sugar- house burned to the ground? Would any rational person accept that excuse?

At last December ‘s public hearing on the NEWSVT PFAS treatment permit (the permit which has still not been issued for the experimental treatment pilot), DUMP commenters objected to the fact that the plan called for 24/7 operation but was only staffed eight hours a day Monday through Friday and up to two hours on the weekend. In other words, the system ran 100% of the time but was staffed 25% of the time.

That’s the same inadequate staffing pattern that was in place at a Casella landfill in Bethlehem NH a few years ago when that leachate system failed, on a weekend, when no one was onsite, resulting in a disastrous accidental leachate spill! Where are the watchdogs?

If the ANR or any of its divisions had required a NEWSVT employee to be on duty 24/7 on February 24th, the system would have been shut down immediately and near disaster prevented. But that didn’t happen, and the rest is history. An investigation may determine what time that “fail safe” system actually malfunctioned, or how many gallons actually escaped containment. It could have been at any hour between 4 or 5 pm on Friday evening and 7 am Saturday morning. And the outcome could have been much worse. Hopefully, we dodged a bullet this time. There can’t be a next time.

Vermont ANR’s goal to be first in the nation in leachate treatment is admirable, but only if the most effective technology available is used in the safest possible way to protect the health and safety of public and the environment. The current plan falls far short of the more effective and safer leachate treatment technology model that now is available and is not being employed.

When the permit for the experimental leachate treatment pilot is finally issued by the DEC, it must include a requirement that the treatment system be fully staffed during the hours of operation After all, the definition of insanity is making the same mistakes over and over, expecting different results. If Mr. Casella’s NEWSVT and the ANR can’t learn from history, are we Vermonters doomed to repeat it?

Recommendations for revision of the treatment plan, must also be required. that would make the system safer and more effective, these recommendations were made last June in a review by experts contracted and endorsed by DEC, funded by taxpayers, and turned down by NEWSVT last October. Cutting corners, cutting costs, Ignoring the science, are unacceptable when dealing with highly toxic PFAS chemicals. These forever chemicals must be captured, contained and destroyed to prevent them from ever entering the environment again. The current plan does not ensure that.

David Burns, lead scientist for the SAFF research and development team is quoted, “Of course, there is no suggestion that the treated landfill leachate should be used directly as potable water or allowed to discharge or otherwise migrate into receiving waters reserved for drinking water.” No one in any division in the ANR or NEWSVT is qualified to contradict or override that science.

For that reason, when the permit for the pilot project is issued, it must require the pilot treatment facility be sited out of the fragile Memphremagog watershed, in a hydro-geologically safe area near to the receiving WWTF in Montpelier. Lake Memphremagog is an international lake, a drinking water reservoir for 175,000 Quebec neighbors. There is a currently a moratorium on treatment or disposal of leachate anywhere in the Memphremagog watershed for that reason. The experimental treatment project is ongoing in spite of that.

It’s ANR’s responsibility to protect the health and safety of the environment and the public on both sides of the border. That starts with updating Vermont’s solid waste policy and management standards, and enforcing them, to avoid making the same mistakes in the future as have been made in the past.

Peggy Stevens

Vice-Chair, Don’t Undermine Memphremagog’s Purity (DUMP)

New Permit Threatens Lake Memphremagog

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 21:32:19 GMT

On May 31 the Department of Environmental Conservation Watershed Management Division issued the final amended Permit for the pilot leachate pretreatment system on site at the NEWSVT Coventry landfill. The pretreatment system is supposed to filter toxic PFAS chemicals from the 60,000 gallons a day of leachate produced by the landfill. “Forever” PFAS chemicals , found in leachate and toxic even in minute amounts, are known to contaminate the environment and cause serious health effects, including cancer, in humans.

Many doubts exist about the safety and effectiveness of the relatively new SAFF technology chosen by NEWSVT. At a December 12, 2023 public meeting in Newport, many concerns from the public were raised about the chosen leachate pretreatment technology, including that only five- out of the existing 15,000 PFAS chemicals- would be required to be filtered to “non-detect” levels.

“Non-detect” amounts of PFAS chemicals are not safe levels. Research has proved that many of the thousands of other PFAS compounds will escape filtration entirely due to their microscopic size, will enter the environment, accumulate over time, and cause harm to humans and wildlife that drink or eat PFAS contaminated water and food.

Now the pilot leachate pretreatment permit has been issued, with some very sketchy language that creates loopholes big enough to drive an MBI truck through once the pilot ends. These loopholes:

1) Would open the door to making the pilot leachate pretreatment facility a permanent installation on the landfill, without any opportunity for public review or comment once the180-day pilot ends;

2) Could allow for the resumption of the disposal of “treated” leachate into international Lake Memphremagog, a drinking water reservoir for 175,000 Quebec citizens;

3) Could allow for the import of thousands of gallons a day of leachate from other landfills;

4) Would establish performance standards that may not be as strict as results other available leachate pretreatment technologies provide;

5) Allow for the return to operating leachate pretreatment 24/7 without full time staffing, as occurred in February, 2024 with the accidental spill of nearly 9,000 gallons of leachate.

Prior to 2019, over 41 million gallons of toxic leachate were disposed of into Newport’s Waste Water Treatment Facility, unfiltered for PFAS. The 2019 moratorium imposed by Act 250 forbids treatment or disposal of landfill leachate anywhere in the Memphremagog watershed. The moratorium, designed to protect Memphremagog’s water quality from further contamination, now it is at risk of being sidestepped.

The citizens of the Lake Memphremagog region need to come together to say “No” to permanent siting of this leachate treatment pilot in Coventry, “No” to returning to leachate disposal into the watershed, “No” to contaminating the drinking water reservoir of 175,000 Quebec citizens, “No” to polluting our recreational waters, our wildlife habitat, the foundations of our regional tourist economy, “No” to eroding our property values and tax base.

Yes, leachate must be filtered for toxic landfill contaminants including PFAS, but only with the safest and most effective technologies and not in the Memphremagog watershed, ever.