Leachate Leak

November 19, 2024

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.

DUMP Wins in Environmental Court

By Ed Stanak • June 23, 2026
NEWSVT, Owners and Operators of the Landfill in Coventry, are appealing the Judge's Decision to the Vermont Supreme Court! We are fighting the battle in court, again. Read Judge Walsh's Decision on Motions and Judgment Order . Judge Thomas Walsh, of Vermont’s Environmental Court, handed down a decision on Tuesday January 27th, affirming a Jurisdictional Opinion (JO) issued by the Act 250 District #7 Environmental Commission Coordinator on January 25, 2025 (Case No. 25-ENV-00012). Vermont’s Land Use Review Board defended the Jurisdictional Opinion. Don’t Undermine Memphremagog’s Purity, Inc. (DUMP) the grassroots environmental organization dedicated to protecting water quality in Lake Memphremagog, had requested a Jurisdictional Opinion, and the Act 250 District #7 Commission Coordinator agreed, that the NEWSVT leachate pretreatment system, in place on the Coventry landfill, would require an amended permit “ in the event that NEWSVT sought to convert the current experimental leachate pretreatment system from a pilot program to permanent installation at NEWSVT's facility.” New England Waste Systems, Inc. (NEWSVT) then appealed the Jurisdictional Opinion to the Environmental Court. NEWSVT is a subsidiary of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. DUMP stood by its claim that amended permit would be required for a leachate pretreatment facility, since it is a major change in operations onsite. In his decision, Judge Walsh stated, “the Court concludes NEWSVT requires an Act 250 permit amendment to convert the pilot pretreatment system to a permanent installation.” The leachate pretreatment system, SAFF, which partially removes hazardous and toxic PFAS chemicals from landfill leachate, has actually been fully operational since September 2023, but the “pilot” is not scheduled to begin until Quarter 2 of 2026, according to a NEWSVT spokesperson at a recent landfill oversight meeting. Currently, the leachate pretreatment system is required to be staffed 24/7, and no leachate is permitted to be imported for pretreatment. Once the pilot concludes, after 180 days, there is no certainty those requirements would remain in place. DUMP asserts that the current SAFF technology does not meet the highest standards for PFAS removal, and poses continued threat to the environment. Effluent discharged from the system still contains significant amounts of “forever” PFAS, proven to cause significant negative health effects in people and animals exposed to contaminated water and food. In response to Judge Walsh’s decision, DUMP co-founder and Board Chair, Chris Jacobs, said "DUMP welcomes the decision of the Environmental Court affirming that the leachate pretreatment system will be subject to review under Act 250. That will force NEWSVT to make its case before the District 7 Environmental Commission. The people of the Northeast Kingdom will finally have an opportunity for real public participation, to identify the long-range negative impacts on the Lake Memphremagog watershed. The operation of the SAFF system- even as a pilot- is a threat to the health and safety of the environment, people and wildlife. The conversion of a pilot to a permanent leachate pretreatment system will increase the environmental burden that the operation of the state's only landfill currently represents to the quality of life of residents and the affected ecosystems."

Bill Introduced to Ban Leachate

June 1, 2026
New Bill Introduced to Protect Lake Memphremagog is Supported by Quebec and Vermont Municipalities Representatives Woodman Page and Larry Labor have submitted this bill , H.652 , for consideration by the Vermont legislature. The purpose of the bill is to prohibit landfill leachate, treated or not, from being discharged anywhere in the Lake Memphremagog watershed. This is DUMP's number one goal, shared with our Canadian partners, Memphremagog Conservation (MCI). Protecting the lake from further chemical contamination, including PFAS, is essential for the environment, people, and economies of the surrounding communities. Most importantly, the Lake is a drinking water reservoir for 175,000 Quebec neighbors. The Quebec municipalities of Austin, Magog, Ogden, Orford, Potton, Sherbrooke and Stanstead have all signed resolutions in support of the ban on leachate disposal in Lake Memphremagog. The Standstead Resolution is planned for discussion at the next Newport City Council meeting on April 20th. Remember that approximately one million gallons of leachate are collected from the landfill every month! Prior to the moratorium in 2019, 15,000 gallons a day was permitted for discharge at the Newport Wastewater Treatment facility. Let's do all we can to prevent further discharge of any leachate, treated or untreated, into the Memphremagog Watershed.

Everything But Transparent

By Ed Stanak • October 7, 2025
Everything Except Transparent

Henry Coe and DUMP receive MCI Award

July 21, 2025
Henry Coe and DUMP honored with prestigious Gordon-Kohl award.

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

July 21, 2025
Enough of kicking the (trash) can down the road

Public Meeting regarding the landfill in Coventry - DUMP voices concerns

March 19, 2025
NEWSVT requests Solid Waste Certification Amendment for Leachate Treatment System

Legislation affecting environmental health and safety in the Northeast Kingdom

February 27, 2025
Protecting the health and safety of our environment, public, wildlife and economy must be our legislative priority.
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Where Are the Watchdogs?

November 19, 2024
Casella's Risky Gamble with Public Safety
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New Permit Threatens Lake Memphremagog

November 19, 2024
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.