With its renewal process having taken three years longer than planned, Modern Disposal says it is close to getting a new 10-year operating permit for its Lewiston landfill.
“We believe we are nearing the finish line,” said Modern spokesperson Jennifer Aiple, “having addressed the DEC’s comments and questions to date during this renewal process.”
The Lewiston landfill has been operating under a permit that the DEC extended indefinitely on Oct. 23, 2023, when it had last expired. Modern had submitted its renewal application on April 27, 2023, but the DEC needed more time to review it since they were transitioning to updated regulations.
The DEC has not provided a definitive timeline on when Modern can expect to hear that its permit has been approved.
Aiple said that Modern would not request any changes to how it operates its landfill. The only changes it would make are due to new DEC regulations, such as radiation monitoring, horizontal gas collection installation, and biennial leachate collection line video inspection.
Of the 380 acres of Lewiston land Modern owns and operates, 239 of them are permitted for disposing of non-hazardous solid waste. In the town alone, Modern services, as of Feb. 2024, 5,710 homes that generate an average of 5,839 tons of garbage and 912 tons of recyclables annually. The DEC permit extension allows Modern to accept up to 815,000 tons of solid waste.
This process does not impact the host agreement Modern has with the Town of Lewiston. Town Supervisor Steve Broderick said this process is just a formality, with the current operating contract with the town running through 2040, which is how long it is expected to reach capacity.
Modern’s website features the permit application in its current state, along with past versions that have been revised to address state comments.
Modern also needs to provide a Public Participation Plan in order to get permit approvals, which includes posting fact sheets on its website and distributing them to stakeholders.
During a September town board work session, resident Amy Witryol, who was heavily involved in the efforts preventing CWM from opening a new Lewiston landfill, suggested the town request an extension for the public comment period from 30 days to 90 days. She also recommended that if the town were to make any comments, it be that the DEC restrict landfill-related trucks from being on roads before 7 p.m.
“Landfills were paying $3 a ton 30 years ago and the Town of Lewiston is getting less than half of that now,” Witryol said, calling the amount Lewiston receives a pittance compared to other landfills. With the town currently working on a new comprehensive plan, she also felt it was important they inform town residents about Modern’s positive and negative impact, along with discussing whether they want these continued industrial operations decades from now.
She also brought this before the Lewiston Village Board, suggesting they could receive between $180,000 and $400,000 per year depending on whether the town would enforce violations of its host community agreement. She based that figure on how the Village of Youngstown received 10% of the funds the Town of Porter receives from Modern.