Tell New York State to do more to stop landfills from polluting New York’s waters

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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) proposed new rules to treat the toxic liquid that comes from landfills, known as landfill leachate. This harmful cocktail can often contain pollutants like PFAS “forever chemicals,” heavy metals, and pesticides, which can ultimately reach the rivers and streams where we swim, fish, and get drinking water.

According to a report by New York River Watch — leader of a coalition that includes Riverkeeper — between 2019 and 2023, more than half a billion gallons of this contaminated “garbage juice” was sent each year to sewage treatment plants across the state, including roughly 122 million gallons annually that ended up in the Mohawk River and Hudson River estuary.

The state’s new regulations fall dangerously short, leaving at least 81 million gallons of untreated leachate each year to continue flowing to sewage treatment plants that aren’t designed to remove these toxic pollutants, meaning they can end up untreated in New York’s waterways.

Tell the NYS DEC to strengthen its proposed regulations, close the loopholes, and require effective treatment of toxic landfill leachate.

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Commissioner Lefton

NYS DEC Division of Materials Management

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I am writing as a concerned New York resident to ask NYSDEC to strengthen its proposed rules for landfill leachate. Leachate can contain a dangerous mix of toxic chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides, and PFAS. Exposure to the pollutants found in leachate has been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, immune system damage, and developmental issues in children.

NYSDEC’s proposed rules are an important first step, and a first of its kind in the nation. However, the regulations must be strengthened to ensure that leachate is adequately treated to protect water quality and public health. I urge NYSDEC to revise the regulations to address the following key points:

- Require treatment at all landfills that collect leachate. No site should get a free pass, including closed landfills, cleanup sites, ash dumps, facilities using groundwater collection, and out-of-state landfills sending waste to New York.

- Align leachate treatment requirements with existing EPA and New York State drinking water safety standards. NYSDEC should ensure that treatment requirements reflect existing federal and New York State drinking water standards. If those standards are strengthened in the future, leachate treatment requirements should automatically be updated to match them.

- Require removal of all PFAS. NYSDEC should require landfills to remove all PFAS from leachate, going beyond the six PFAS chemicals currently listed in state regulations that are required to be removed. PFAS are persistent pollutants that threaten public health and ecosystems and require special attention.

- Strengthen oversight of new leachate treatment facilities. NYSDEC’s proposed creation of a new permit classification for stand-alone and dedicated landfill leachate treatment facilities represents a significant addition to New York’s waste and water management infrastructure landscape. NYSDEC must establish strong safeguards and regulatory oversight for these facilities, including consideration of environmental justice, cumulative impacts, corporate accountability, and long-term state planning.

- Modernize leachate tracking and reporting. NYSDEC should create an easy-to-use, publicly accessible online database for leachate. Treatment facilities should report their sampling and testing results quarterly and link specific chemical pollution directly back to the landfill that created it.

New York has an opportunity to protect clean water and lead the nation in safe leachate management. Please strengthen these regulations before finalizing them.

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Tell New York State to do more to stop landfills from polluting New York’s waters

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Commissioner Lefton

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