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Report
Cautions Communities on Trash-Giant Casella TEMPLETON—Citing a
history of landfill expansions, environmental pollution, and anti-competitive
behavior, Toxics Action Center released the 48-page report, Casella: Coming
to a Community Near You?, which documents mounting concerns of Casella Waste
Systems' landfill, incinerator and trash transfer station operations throughout
the Northeast. Over the past decade, Casella
has grown to become one of the largest solid waste collection and disposal firms
in the Northeast, operating more than 45 landfills and trash transfer facilities
as well as 39 recycling facilities across the region. According to Casella,
over the next five years the company wants to continue its expansion in the
Northeast. "Town officials and
citizens must be aware of Casella's history of buying small landfill operations
and working for dramatic expansion. Proposals by Casella Waste Systems to purchase
a solid waste facility should be a yellow flag to any potential host community,"
said Jay Rasku, Massachusetts Field Director for Toxics Action Center. "Many
of these facilities are operating despite the opposition of municipal officials
and residents who are concerned about the threats these facilities pose to public
health and the environment," added Rasku. The report focuses on Casella's
landfill and incinerator operations, and reveals: - Environmental Pollution:
In Hampden, ME the town engineer has detected toxic chemical contamination of
the groundwater surrounding the landfill. Vinyl chloride, dichloroethene, benzene,
arsenic and other inorganic metals have been identified. - Aggressive Expansions:
Casella has or is working to increase the size of its landfills between two
and four times its original area. In spite of strong local opposition and a
zoning ordinance prohibiting expansion of Casella's Bethlehem, New Hampshire
Landfill, Casella brought the town to court in 1998. In 2001, the New Hampshire
Supreme Court ruling allowed a 51-acre facility that expanded the landfill more
than three times. Now Casella wants to expand the landfill to 87 acres. A decision
is expected in 2006. The town has spent nearly $300,000 in legal fees battling
Casella, or 10% of the town budget. "Casella's landfill in Bethlehem has
polluted our aquifer, our land, our air, and the Ammonoosuc River. And when
we try to enforce our laws, Casella says we are picking on them. Beware of this
company," said Susi Stith, of the Bethlehem, New Hampshire citizens group,
AWARE. - Anti Competitive Behavior:
In January 2000, over one hundred Maine communities sued Casella, owner of both
the PERC incinerator in Orrington, ME, and the dump which was used to dispose
of the incinerator ash. The towns alleged that Casella charged unnecessarily
high tipping fees and failed to seek out the lowest cost way to dispose of incinerator
ash. The suit was settled in March 2001. The settlement required Casella to
sell its share of PERC to resolve the conflict of interest issues. As a result
of the sale, tipping fees went down by $3 to $4 per ton. Deana Talbot, from the citizen
group STOP in Hardwick, MA, said, "Because of their reputation, I am very
leery of what Casella will do now that they are in our town of Hardwick. We've
already seen a few problems. Fumes from the dump gassed us out for a while.
And they are currently operating illegally on two thirds of the dump area. What's
Next?" Andy Bell from Holliston-Sherborn
Residents Group added, "Casella's activities in Holliston confirm a New
England wide pattern of pushing expansions. In our case we've seen pollution
of groundwater near a town water source and numerous problems with trucks, traffic
and road conditions. And our town officials have been overpowered by Casella's
large team of consultants and lawyers." The Old Town landfill fight
is a typical example of communities' dealings with Casella. "No one, even
the legislators who approved it, had any idea how big the dump would be,"
said Paul Schroeder, a member of We The People, a community group fighting the
Old Town Landfill. "It was sold to the community as a paper mill sludge
dump being bought by the State in order to help keep a paper mill open -- and
it turned out to be a Casella run multi-state mega landfill." Over the past two decades
in New England, state officials rarely reject solid waste facility construction
or expansions. As a result, recycling rates have stagnated. Goals to reduce
and recycle are not being attained with states at least 30-50% behind their
recycling goals. "Casella has capitalized
on the lax implementation of state solid waste master plans. It's high time
for states to stop rubber-stamping landfill expansions and truly prioritize
reduction, reuse and recycling over the burning and burying of trash,"
said Rasku. The report recommends that
communities should be wary of Casella landfill deals in their towns. Municipalities
should aggressively exercise their rights of local control to limit growth landfills.
The report also recommends that states should strictly implement their solid
waste master plans to prioritize reuse and recycling over the burning and burying
of trash. The full report can be
found at www.toxicsaction.org.
Since 1987, Toxics Action
Center has assisted more than 500 neighborhoods across New England in their
campaigns against toxic pollution issues in their community. Local Groups Fighting
Casella Andy Bell, Holliston,
Massachusetts Pat Kaake, Green Earth
Committee member, Angelica, New York Bob Mitchell, Templeton
Citizens Against the Dump, Templeton, Massachusetts Paul Schroeder, We The
People member, Old Town, Maine Susi Stith, Bethlehem,
New Hampshire Deana Talbot, STOP member,
Hardwick, Massachusetts
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