Dear Editor,
H.652, a bill banning landfill leachate disposal in the Lake Memphremagog watershed, is an important piece of legislation.
Sponsored by Reps. Woodman Page, R-Newport City, and Larry Labor, R-Morgan, and co-sponsored by 19 bipartisan representatives — Republicans, Democrats, Progressives and Independents — the bill would prohibit the disposal of landfill leachate, treated or not, anywhere in the Memphremagog watershed.
The current experimental leachate treatment system, fully operational at Vermont’s only landfill in Coventry, is incapable of filtering the thousands of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) leachate contains. These PFAS do not break down and instead accumulate and bioaccumulate and may transform into more hazardous compounds, causing serious harm to the health and safety of people and wildlife who depend on Lake Memphremagog’s waters.
About 185,000 Quebec residents get their drinking water from the lake. Sampling and analysis by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) prove significant contamination by hazardous perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and other PFAS chemicals in surface waters and fish tissues in Memphremagog. Further deliberate PFAS contamination must not be permitted.
At a recent Northeast Kingdom (NEK) Day press conference at the Statehouse, Lt. Gov. John Rodgers joined other speakers in highlighting the region’s extraordinary natural resources and the importance of protecting the clean water, healthy soils and outdoor recreation opportunities that sustain the Northeast Kingdom’s communities and economy.
Prohibiting the discharge of landfill leachate, treated or not, into the Memphremagog watershed would be a major step toward preventing further contamination of our crown jewel, Lake Memphremagog, at no cost to taxpayers.
It would also make clear to the rest of Vermont that our tri-county NEK, which contributes 7% of the waste disposed of annually in Coventry, must not continue to be the dumping ground for the rest of Vermont’s waste or out-of-state waste that produces the toxic and hazardous leachate.
Environmental justice requires that leachate be sent to the areas where the greatest percentage of waste is generated for final treatment and PFAS destruction.
The challenge of treating leachate and destroying the PFAS chemicals it contains is existential. Leachate must be treated, and PFAS destroyed, with the most effective technologies, not the most cost-effective. H.652 will protect our Memphremagog watershed and shine a light on the need to protect all Vermont waters, and all who depend on them for survival, in this state and in neighboring Quebec.
The Bestan landfill in Magog, Quebec, in the Memphremagog watershed, was closed in 2010, and leachate has been trucked out of the watershed ever since, to protect Memphremagog’s drinking water quality. What will Vermont do to show the same level of respect and concern for our Quebec neighbors, many of whom are family and friends?
If the water flowed from north to south, and Vermonters’ drinking water were at risk of contamination from landfill leachate, we would rightly expect immediate corrective action.
I urge every citizen across the state to contact their representatives and request support for H.652 to protect and preserve Memphremagog’s waters from chemical contamination by PFAS.
Peggy Stevens,
Charleston, Vt.
