[A] Quebec parliamentarian has urged fellow Canadian politicians to band together to oppose the Coventry landfill expansion.
Parliamentarian Denis Paradis said in a speech on the House of Commons floor that he was “very disappointed” to learn last Friday that the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources had issued a final certification approving the expansion.
“I urge all levels of government, including authorities from the neighbouring municipalities, to work together to stop the project,” Paradis said.
Paradis, who represents the Brome-Missisquoi region, told his colleagues in the Canadian Parliament, “It is high time that we recognized what a precious resource our lakes are.”
The landfill is near an international lake that provides drinking water for almost 200,000 Canadians.
“If there were to be any leaks from the landfill, even 30 years from now, this could have very serious repercussions on the water quality of Lake Memphremagog,” he said.
Paradis had sent a letter in July urging Gov. Phil Scott and ANR Secretary Julie Moore to halt the expansion until the International Joint Commission reviews potential environmental impact. The IJC was established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to resolve disputes between the U.S. and Canada over boundary waters. In addition, he is contacting Vermont’s congressional delegation and the regional administrator for the EPA.
Julie Moore, secretary of the state Agency of Natural Resources, said modern landfills, like the one in Coventry, are “highly engineered facilities that are closely monitored.” The double-lined landfill has groundwater monitoring wells in between the liners, as well as monitors in a drain under the landfill.
“I understand and appreciate, as do all staff here, the concerns raised by the public,” Moore said. “We think what has been proposed is a very robust system that is protective of the environment.”
There are monitoring wells at the edge of the property that would trigger a “corrective action” from the state should “essentially, the inconceivable, occur,” said Moore.
“We’re committed to doing our piece and then also having Casella do their piece to ensure groundwater standards are met and continue to be met in perpetuity,” she added.
While most of Lake Memphremagog is in Quebec, 71 percent of the lake’s watershed is in Vermont. The International Joint Commission is already investigating the effectiveness of Canadian and U.S. nutrient management programs in the Memphremagog watershed.
The Coventry landfill is the last active garbage dump in Vermont following the closure of the Moretown landfill in 2013. The state approved a 51-acre expansion of the facility last week. Without the additional space, the landfill would close in five years. Casella, a publicly traded company based in Rutland, owns the facility.
