updated 6/20/2001
The High Acres Landfill (Western Expansion) in the Town of Perinton (Monroe Co.) is owned and operated by Waste Management of New York, a subsidiary of Waste Mangement, Inc. (purchased in 1999 for $15 billion by USA Waste, which took the WMI name). Waste Management's dump is a modern disposal facility opened in 1995, but located adjacent to an unlined landfill opened in 1971 and closed in 1995.
According the company, the current High Acres Landfill will hold approximately 7 million tons of garbage. WMNY's own website has good maps and an arial photo of the dump.
Waste Management of New York seeks a Title V Air Permit under the Clean Air Act. Currently, four internal combustion engines use landfill gas to generate electricity which is distributed in the local power grid. Additional landfill gas is burned with a flare. However, the NYSDEC public notice gives no indication whether Waste Management plans to install a gas capture and destruction system to destroy non-methane organic compounds, as required under the federal landfill gas rule. Nor is there any indication the landfill has undergone New Source Review under the Clean Air Act, requiring an inventory of all emissions when a hazardous air pollutant exceeds certain levels, as generally occurs when a landfill reaches the size of High Acres. The public comment period for comments on the air permit closed March 19, 2001. For more information see:
More recently, Waste Management proposes to expand High Aces by 54 acres, 32 acres of which partly overlies the Western Expansion Landfill and 14 acres partly over the closed High Acres Landfill. The proposed expansion is designed to dump an additional 5.4 million cubic yards of waste at the landfill. Comments on this project must be submitted in writing to the DEC no later than June 29, 2001. For more information see:
