Casella Waste Systems withdrew its wetlands permit application for a proposed landfill project near a state park in Dalton this week, and Gov. Kelly Ayotte was quick to celebrate.
“This is a win for our North Country and protecting New Hampshire’s outdoors,” Ayotte said in a press release. “I have said from day one that we would not let Forest Lake become a dumping ground for out-of-state trash, and the withdrawal of this permit application is an important step in ensuring this beautiful area of our state remains pristine for future generations to enjoy.”
That celebration feels premature for some local advocates, like Eliot Wessler, a Whitefield resident who lives less than a mile from the proposed site of the Granite State Landfill. Casella has withdrawn a wetlands permit application once before, which did not spell the end of the project.
“I think it’s a sign that they recognize the GSL project is going nowhere, but they are like a phoenix,” Wessler said. “Nobody’s taking this as a final thought that they’re totally going to withdraw their efforts to build the GSL landfill.”
The Vermont-based company has said as much. While the wetlands permit is one Casella would need to proceed with the project, other permit applications are still in the works. A spokesperson said it withdrew its wetlands permit to make sure the review process is “properly aligned” with its appeal of a solid waste permit denied by the state last year.
“Proceeding in this manner allows the relevant regulatory considerations to be addressed in a coordinated and consistent way, rather than in parallel tracks that could create confusion or inefficiency,” Jeff Weld, Casella’s vice president of communications, said in a statement to the Monitor.
Others view it as step back for the company. Wayne Morrison, president of the North Country Alliance for Balanced Change, a grassroots environmental group that has opposed the landfill in Dalton, said in Ayotte’s press release that the withdrawal indicates a “deeply flawed and problematic” application in the first place.
The Granite State Landfill, seven years in the works, has drawn ire from environmental advocates and Ayotte, who campaigned on stopping the project from coming to fruition.
Casella argues the development is necessary to meet solid waste disposal capacity needs in the region, as its North Country Environmental Services landfill in Bethlehem is set to shut down next year.
“If additional disposal capacity is not permitted, those communities will need to transport waste to other facilities,” Weld said, which could results in increased costs.
The Bethlehem landfill is at the center of a $1.9 million fine that Casella will pay to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services for violating a litany of state regulations there, including dumping waste beyond permitted boundaries and improperly handling and storing leachate, a toxic substance produced by landfills.
State lawmakers are on the verge of revising the permitting process after years of back-and-forth. Proponents of the new law, which won bipartisan support, would establish a committee to evaluate landfill proposals, solicit public feedback and analyze potential impacts. Ayotte plans to sign the bill into law.
