[T]he owner and operator of the Coventry landfill called a tenfold increase in odor complaints last year a “tactic” by landfill expansion opponents. Residents attribute the substantial hike in complaints to a better reporting system.
Casella Waste Systems received approval last fall from the state Agency of Natural Resources for a 51-acre expansion to Vermont’s last open landfill. The expansion is under Act 250 review.
Casella says the cascade of complaints is part of a strategy by opponents to block the expansion. The company denies that the odor problem is worsening.
Residents say they have made a concerted effort to increase awareness about how to file odor complaints. In prior years, residents didn’t know how best to register their concerns and the low complaint numbers before 2018 are not an indication that odor problems didn’t exist, they argue.
In 2018, the Department of Environmental Conservation — a division of ANR — received 37 odor complaints about the Coventry landfill. DEC had received three in 2017, zero in 2016 and two in 2015, according to Barb Schwendtner, compliance section chief for DEC’s waste management division.
The landfill’s solid waste permit requires Casella prevent “objectionable off-site odors.” This April, the state sent Casella a notice of alleged violation about an odor detected at a home in Coventry in late March. The smell was linked to a particularly malodorous load of sewage sludge from Northfield’s wastewater treatment plant sent to Coventry, according to a copy of the alleged violation notice.
Of the 60 complaints the state has received from 2010 to 2018, 11 were confirmed by state officials.
The descriptions provided in complaints to the state vary. In the filings obtained by VTDigger through a public records request, the smell has been called “sulfur-like,” “noxious,” “foul,” and like “dead bodies.” Often complainants simply say that it smells like the dump, landfill or garbage.
Bob Fortunati, who lives and works near the landfill, called the state 12 times last year to report odors. He said in an interview Thursday that he believes odors from the landfill, which he described as “gaseous,” have been getting worse.
Fortunati said he had called the landfill four or five times before 2017 to report odor complaints.
In email to Eugene Reid, chair of the Northeast Kingdom’s environmental commission, Fortunati worried the landfill has grown too large for the surrounding area.
“I have honestly had enough of the increasing unbearable odor,” he wrote, according to a copy of the complaint. “I have to wonder about the health effects from it?”
The odors, Fortunati said, can dissipate quickly, so he does not always report them. For example, one recent night he said he had smelled the landfill at around 7:45 p.m. but the smell was gone by 8 so he didn’t report it.
“I get to the point sometimes where I don’t complain now unless it’s so extremely bad that I can’t even be out in my yard,” he said.
Fortunati said he is concerned that the expansion will worsen the odors. “If they have issues being able to control it now, what’s going to happen when they grow larger or bigger.”
Emily Boedecker, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said that while the overall size of the landfill would grow, the amount of incoming waste and open working area were not increasing.
Christina Cotnoir and her husband, Rene, who live in Derby, both called the state last year to report odors. In November, as Christina Cotnoir drove home along Route 5 after attending a public meeting about the landfill, she smelled the landfill at a turnout, according to a copy of a complaint made to the state. She described the smell as a “burning odor.”
She said in an interview last month that she and other residents had not known until last year that they needed to report odors to the state for them to be investigated as possible violations.
“Most people just called the landfill and assumed that was how it worked,” she said.
Cotnoir said it took her over half an hour to figure out the right person to talk to at the state when she called to complain.
“They make it sound like it’s very simple, but if you’re a working person, you’re not going to spend half an hour, 45 minutes in the morning to report this,” she said.
Cotnoir said she doesn’t think residents are smelling the landfill more than in years past but now know to call the state. She had put up fliers with the number of Casella’s 24-hour odor hotline and the number to call at DEC. And DUMP — a grassroots organization that opposes the landfill expansion — has a section of their website devoted to reporting odor complaints.
“I talked to so many neighbors and people that just thought it was an unintended consequence of living near the landfill,” said Cotnoir.
Casella does not receive a violation from the state unless someone from DEC or Casella confirms an off-site odor, said Schwendtner.
When DEC receives a complaint, Schwendtner or another staff person will first try to determine whether or not the odor is still occurring. One challenge of responding effectively to complaints is that sometimes people call after the fact, she said.
“You’d be surprised how many times where we get a call that says ‘it was stinky’ but doesn’t say where it was or what time it was,” she said.
The state will follow up with landfill staff to see if they have received any complaints or have had any changes in practice — like nicking a gas pipe — that could have caused an odor problem.
One way DEC monitors odor issues are through foot patrols in neighborhoods near the landfill, she said. The frequency of odor patrols depends on how many complaints are received.
Staff try to go during weather conditions similar to those when complaints have been received, which has generally been early in the morning, when there is low wind, said Schwendtner. Generally during those odor patrols, staff have not smelled anything unpleasant, she said.
Joe Fusco, vice president of Casella, maintained an “artificial spike” in odor complaints happened because the landfill owner had not previously been required to provide the state with copies of odor complaints it received.
Now Casella now has to provide the state with a copy a complaint within 24 hours.
Since last May, DEC has received 46 complaints forwarded from Casella, said Schwendtner. Those are not counted with the 37 complaints made directly to DEC, she said, though some of the forwarded 46 are likely duplicate complaints that were made to the state.
Fusco believes the increase in complaints was a “tactic used by opponents” of the landfill expansion. Staff at the Coventry landfill also received an increase in odor-related complaints last year, he said.
“I’m guessing we’re going to see a lot more activity during the permitting process when you have an active opposition (to) it.”
“Also, I think that anytime anybody smells anything anywhere, we get a call about it whether or not it has anything to do with the landfill,” he added.
Fusco stressed residents had a right to complain and that the company takes the issue seriously.
“We want real data, we want to be able to understand real issues of odor migration off-site,” he said. “And we do that because we want to be able to deploy the right solutions and the right counter-measures if necessary.”
Casella sprays loads with disinfectant and puts a daily cover layer on top of the working area of the landfill to minimize odors.
“The true instances of odors migrating off-site are very small, mild and dissipate quickly,” said Fusco.
Boedecker said there has been increased awareness of both “landfill activities” and how to report odor to the state.
“I think the uptick in the number of complaints that are coming in is an example of the process working well,” said Boedecker.
Other landfills have had more odor violations.
In 2014, Vermont’s attorney general sued operators of the Moretown landfill for odor, air and water quality violations. A contractor hired by the landfill operator documented 86 instances of “moderate to very strong” off-site odors related to landfill gas, according to the attorney general’s complaint.
Boedecker cited the Northfield sludge case as a positive example.
On March 21, a Coventry resident reported a strong “sewagey type” odor coming from the landfill, according to the complaint. Schwendtner called landfill general manager Jeremy Labbe, who said landfill staff had received a similar call and had confirmed odors near the residence. They suspected it was from a load of sewage sludge from Northfield’s wastewater treatment plant.
When Schwendtner asked Labbe during a landfill inspection the following week if staff had followed up with the town of Northfield or Casella Organics, which handles disposal of sludge, after the complaint, he said they had not yet.
Schwendtner said DEC sent a Notice of Alleged Violation because the odor had impacted a residence and because she felt Casella had not followed up quickly enough.
Boedecker said Casella had decided to no longer accept the Northfield sludge.
Fusco said Casella disagrees with the state’s decision to send the notice. He said the company had been working with the town to deal with the issue.
Sewage sludge caused an odor issue at the landfill before. In 2013, Casella stopped accepting sludge from Haverhill, Massachusetts, after linking an odor complaint to a sludge delivery.
Cotnoir and Fortunati would like quicker verification of odors from someone other than the landfill owner. Cotnoir said she feels the state should have someone stationed closer by, while Fortunati thinks there should be third-party monitors that routinely check for odors.
“People that are actually a little more proactive about patrolling around the area, catching these odors when they occur,” he said.
Boedecker responded that the waste management division is structured to have a staff person dedicated to ensuring compliance with solid waste rules, which allows DEC to evaluate every complaint.
“If something looks like it has legs to (Schwendtner), she’s getting in the car and going up and having a look at it,” she said.
