New Lebanon secures $2 million to cap former landfill site

The funding was announced at a joint press conference in the New Lebanon town hall held by state Assemblywoman Didi Barret, D-106; state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-41; state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-83; New Lebanon Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling; New Lebanon Central School District Superintendent of Schools Andrew Kourt; and New Lebanon Town Board member Steve Power.

The landfill, located on Old Post Road, opened in 1979 and operated on private property through an agreement with the town and Columbia County.

The site closed in 1987 after the state Department of Environmental Conservation ordered all uncapped landfills closed.

In 2009, the DEC ordered New Lebanon to begin mitigation efforts to close and cap the landfill, or face fines.

The town had no funding to close the landfill on its own, and was placed on the waiting list for the DEC’s Non-Hazardous Municipal Landfill Closure Projects, a program that provides grants to municipalities with closed landfills.

New Lebanon was number 287 on the waiting list, a position that has not changed since it was placed on the list in 2011.

The town continued to look for ways to try and cap the landfill, and considered using bonds to cover the full cost of the project, which would have been reimbursed by the DEC.

“Many of the towns who have been able to close their landfills successfully, and are on the waiting list ahead of us are waiting for reimbursement from DEC,” Houghtling said.

The annual payment of the bond would have been anywhere from 20% to 25% of the town’s tax levy, Houghtling added.

“So, do you increase taxes 20, 25%? Do you cut services? We’re already on a shoestring as many small municipalities are,” she said.

Since the town was unable to close the landfill, it was required to install testing wells to test the groundwater in the landfill.

Roughly two years ago, in 2022, tests came back positive for PFAS, per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are a group of man-made chemicals used in products since the 1940s to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Exposure to the chemicals can lead to a variety of negative health effects, including increasing the risks of some cancers, such as prostate and kidney cancers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

New Lebanon High School, downgradient from the landfill site, also tested positive for the chemicals in 2022.

The school had to cut off its drinking water supply and provide drinking water to students and staff using water jugs for about six months, Kourt said.

An emergency capital project was completed at the school district to install a filtration system at the high school, which cost about $200,000. The water at the school is tested regularly, and is now safe to drink because of the filtration system, Kourt said.

The funding to cap the landfill will help students and families in the district, Kourt added.

“With this new support and this new funding we don’t have to worry about our students and our families in their own wells having PFAS in their water,” he said. “This is a huge celebration for our community and a huge celebration for our district.”

The high school water supply testing positive for the chemicals made capping the landfill a bigger priority, Houghtling said.

“I have a son who attends the high school, and it became a lot more scary,” she said. “The fact that we are now going to be able to take this immediate health and safety risk and do something about it means a lot, and I thank everyone for your time and energy and working so hard on this.”

One million dollars of the funding will come from the state Assembly, and the other $1 million from the state Senate, Barrett said at the press conference.

“Given the imminent threat of PFAS to the community’s drinking water and the school, and the state mandate to close this landfill, Sen. Hinchey and I fought hard and worked with Speaker Heastie to secure this funding to finally close this landfill, ensuring the protection of the environment and our children in this local school and literally putting a cap on a too long saga for this small historic community,” she said.

The town did a previous closure report that estimated the price for the project, and included a 3% inflation factor. The town will have to hire an engineering firm to get an exact price, but if there is a difference, the town could cover it, Houghtling said.

If the project costs more than the allotted $2 million, it will be covered by the Legislature, Barrett said.

“The speaker just told me that we will cover it,” she said at the press conference.

Making sure students are getting the resources they need and ensuring the safety of their constituents are some of the most important things a state government can do, Hinchey said.

“Safety includes environmental safety,” Hinchey added. “This has been a problem in our community, plaguing people’s hearts and minds for decades.

“I’m incredibly proud to work with the assembly member, and the fact that it’s just my second year representing Columbia County and we’ve been able to make this right is really a testament to the advocacy here, locally, and the work we’re able to do in the state legislature to make sure that communities like New Lebanon have their issues at the table,” she said.

Heastie wished the Legislature could have acted sooner on getting the town funding for the project, he said at Wednesday’s press conference.

“It’s heartbreaking to know that a school is not too far away from here,” he said. “I feel like one of our most important things is protecting our young people.”

Sometimes parts of the state feel forgotten, Heastie said.

“We just want to let the people of New Lebanon know that they’re not forgotten and that we’re going to try and get things right as soon as we can,” he said.

Houghtling said she hopes the project can get started within a year, as soon as the funding is available and the previous closure report is updated.

“This is something you want to start addressing as quickly as we can, as soon as we can,” she said.