Date Published: 01/14/2020 [Source]
Under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the state and town are required to look closely at the presence of radon and radium in the landfill. The plaintiffs argue those entities did not do so and that an expansion of the Hakes Landfill "will increase the volumes of radioactive leachate" going into the nearby Bath wastewater treatment plant, which discharges into the Cohocton River, part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
Campbell, the landfill's opponents argue, did not do its due diligence to mitigate "the effects of high levels of radium and radon in the landfill, the effects of radon generated by such radium, or the ineffectiveness of the landfill's entrance monitors in detecting radium and radon in wastes entering the landfill."
Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter did not respond to a request for comment from Waste Dive. The DEC has asserted the plaintiffs do not understand the impacts of radon and the science behind radiation. Fusco of Casella said the landfill has screening equipment and safety protocols in place to protect against potential radioactive substances.