Court Sides with NYSDEC in GCL Cover Case

A 22 July 2010 slip opinion Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York finds that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation did not make an error in approving the extension of operations at a CWM Chemical Services hazardous waste landfill (RMU-1) in Niagara County. Part of the dispute has surrounded the permitted use of a geosynthetic clay liner in site capping plans versus a much thicker compacted clay liner. (The GCL enabled waste capacity to be increased by 106,870 cubic yards.) In the opinion, Judge John Lahtinen writes, “DEC determined, and the record supports, that a GCL cover affords better protection, thus having a positive environmental impact. The agency also noted that allowing the GCL cover would decrease the truck traffic that otherwise would have been necessary to deliver clay for a GCL cover.”