More Than 100 Organizations and 700 New Yorkers Demand Stronger Protections from Landfill Leachate
A coalition led by New York River Watch says the proposed regulations on leachate management is an important step, but New York must close loopholes and stop the perpetual cycling of toxic pollution.
Kingston, NY — More than 100 organizations and 700 individuals have urged New York State to strengthen proposed regulations governing the management and treatment of landfill leachate as the public comment period comes to a close on September 9, 2026.
The effort is being led by New York River Watch, in partnership with a growing coalition of partners that includes Hudson Riverkeeper, Seneca Lake Guardian, Earthjustice, WESPAC Foundation, Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group (BLARG), Talking Rivers, Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE), Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation, Sisters of Charity of New York, Rensselaer Environmental Coalition and other environmental, public health, community, municipal, and civic organizations across New York State.
The coalition’s call for stronger regulations comes as New York River Watch releases a new report documenting the scale of the problem statewide. The organization’s new statewide report tracks more than half a billion gallons of landfill leachate leaving landfills and entering sewage treatment plants each year—where it can ultimately make its way into New York’s rivers and lakes, including waters that serve as drinking water supplies for more than two million people.
Landfill leachate—or “garbage water”—is the contaminated liquid generated when water moves through a landfill. It can contain PFAS and other persistent and potentially harmful contaminants. New York River Watch’s report found that, under current practices, approximately 530 million gallons of landfill leachate are sent annually to sewage treatment plants in New York State, with a significant portion ultimately discharged into rivers and lakes. Many of these sewage treatment plants were designed primarily to treat human waste—not the complex mixture of persistent chemicals and other contaminants found in landfill leachate.
The report reveals why stronger state regulation is needed. Treating leachate at sewage treatment plants does not remove the contaminants it contains. Instead, pollution can be transferred from one part of the waste-management system to another, with contaminants ending up in waterways or concentrated in treatment residuals that are returned to landfills, where they can contribute to increasingly concentrated leachate—creating a cycle in which contaminants re-enter the waste stream and compound the problem.
“The proposed regulation is an important step, but it doesn’t go far enough,” said Rebecca Martin, Executive Director of New York River Watch. “Our research shows that more than half a billion gallons of landfill leachate are entering New York’s municipal sewage treatment systems every year. We need regulations that address the full lifecycle of this pollution—not simply move contaminants from landfills to sewage treatment plants and, ultimately, into lakes and rivers and our environment. This is an opportunity for New York to establish a truly comprehensive and protective approach. The public is watching.”
“This regulation is a major opportunity for New York State to stop the movement of toxic pollution from landfills into rivers and lakes. To achieve that goal, the regulation must be comprehensive and forward-thinking” said Jen Epstein, New York River Watch Science Director. “This regulation must ensure that all landfill leachate gets treated, that treatment waste is handled responsibly and transparently, and that treatment requirements are based on the best available science.”
“We absolutely support stronger regulations to keep toxic landfill leachate out of New York’s waterways and drinking water. But regulating this pollution is the bare minimum. It does not give landfills a free pass to keep poisoning our communities. We cannot landfill our way out of this crisis. New York has to stop the pollution at its source, reduce the waste we generate, and close mega-landfills like Seneca Meadows once and for all,” said Yvonne Taylor, Vice President and Co-Founder of Seneca Lake Guardian.
“Our waterways are sacred. They are not the dumping grounds for waste,” said Monique Fitzgerald, co-founder of Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group. “The DEC has an opportunity to strengthen the leachate regulations, so that our waterways are cleaned up and protected. This is the only outcome we will accept.”
“NYS DEC’s proposed regulations are an important first step toward ensuring that landfill leachate is treated before it reaches New York’s waters, and we applaud the Department for taking action to address this long-standing issue plaguing our waterways,” says Riverkeeper Senior Attorney Drew Gamils. “However, the proposal must be changed to address and mitigate the potential environmental and public health impacts posed by landfill pollution. As written, the regulations would allow at least 74 million gallons of untreated, chemical-laden landfill leachate to continue to be sent each year to sewage treatment plants that were never designed to remove many of these toxic pollutants. New York State has the opportunity to be a national leader in responsible waste management, and we urge the NYS DEC to strengthen these regulations before finalizing them.”
“Clean water is a public trust, and protecting it requires us to confront pollution at its source rather than continually passing it from one part of our waste system to another.” said Nada Khader, Executive Director, WESPAC Foundation. “Communities should not bear the health and environmental consequences of contaminants that our treatment infrastructure was never designed to remove. WESPAC joins organizations across New York in calling for strong, comprehensive landfill leachate regulations that close loopholes, protect our rivers and drinking water, and move us toward a more responsible and sustainable approach to waste. We have both a moral and practical obligation to leave future generations water that is cleaner and not more contaminated than we inherited.”
“We are pleased that DEC is taking steps to address a dangerous, long-standing source of surface water and groundwater pollution,” said Matthew Silverman, Senior Attorney at Earthjustice. “However, we urge DEC to adopt the coalition’s recommendations to strengthen the proposed regulations, such as by including all landfills, and ensuring that the final regulations are grounded in science. In this way, New York can protect our health and environment and lead the nation in regulating leachate treatment.”
“The Sisters of Charity of New York are concerned that DEC’s new regulations to close the leachate loophole are not strong enough,” said Carol De Angelo, SC, Director of Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation, Sisters of Charity of New York. “Water is a precious gift that we cannot live without. Research shows how leachate in NYS is contaminating its rivers. It also contaminates the air, soil and humans! Harm is done when people’s drinking water contains leachate. We urge the DEC to follow the recommendations of New York River Watch and the coalition. As partners of the Coalition, we call upon DEC to protect the residents of New York State.”
“NYSDEC should be commended for taking action on the leachate issue, but the proposed regulations need to be strengthened,” said Robert Welton of the Rensselaer Environmental Coalition. “The priority needs to be destroying PFAS—not putting PFAS-containing residuals back into landfills. The regulations also need to be comprehensive and include inactive landfills, with priority given to those facilities posing the greatest risk to people. And the process needs to be accelerated so we can start making a difference in stopping this pollution. PFAS released into the air through the burning of landfill gas also needs to be addressed as a top priority in a new and prompt initiative.”
“For too long landfill leachate, garbage water, has been allowed to flow uncollected past the boundaries of inactive landfills. Or, if collected from an active landfill, passed largely untreated and unregulated through municipal waste treatment facilities. We agree that the proposed regulations are a start but they fall far short of protecting our waters, our other-than-human relatives and ourselves from the toxins they contain,” said Lee Willbanks, President and co-founder of Talking Rivers. “The revisions proposed by the coalition led by New York River Watch must be included in any final rule if New York is to make real strides to addressing this current and growing crisis facing our waters.”
“We commend the DEC for taking this critical first step toward addressing the serious threat that toxic landfill leachate poses to our treasured waterways across the state,” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE). “However, the Department must go further to strengthen the proposed regulations in order to provide a comprehensive solution that fully closes landfill leachate loopholes. New York State has an opportunity to demonstrate national leadership in protecting clean water and we urge the Department to do so by adopting stronger final regulations.”