The Leachate Loophole: New Statewide Report Reveals Threats to New York’s Drinking Water — Join an Upcoming Webinar to Learn the Findings and How You Can Take Action

Join us for a special webinar unveiling of our major new statewide report, The Leachate Loophole in New York State, which exposes the regulatory failures creating the “leachate loophole”,  allowing poisonous “garbage water” from New York’s landfills to enter waterways across the state.

There are two opportunities to attend are available on Thursday, August 13:

• REGISTER: Lunchtime Webinar: August 13 at 12:00pm (EST)
  With Jen Epstein, Rebecca Martin, and Captain John Lipscomb, New York River Watch; Yvonne Taylor and Joseph Campbell, Seneca Lake Guardian.

• REGISTER: Evening Webinar: August 13 at 6:00pm (EST)
  With Jen Epstein, Rebecca Martin, and Captain John Lipscomb, New York River Watch; Yvonne Taylor and Joseph Campbell, Seneca Lake Guardian; and Mayor Gary Bassett, Hudson 7.

The report finds that nearly half a billion gallons of landfill leachate, contaminated with PFAS (“forever chemicals”), heavy metals, and other pollutants, were sent each year from New York landfills to municipal sewage treatment plants between 2019 and 2023. Because these facilities are not designed to remove these contaminants, an estimated one-third of this wastewater was discharged into rivers and lakes designated as drinking water sources, including the Hudson River, Mohawk River, Lake Ontario, the Niagara River, the New York City watershed, and other waterways serving nearly two million New Yorkers.

This webinar comes at a pivotal moment. On July 1, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) opened the public comment period for its proposed landfill leachate treatment regulations, creating a rare opportunity for New Yorkers to influence how the state addresses this growing threat to drinking water.

During the webinar, you’ll hear the report’s key findings, learn how this regulatory loophole developed, and understand where the proposed regulations fall short. Most importantly, we’ll provide you with the information, tools, and resources you need to submit effective public comments and demand that the state close the leachate loophole once and for all.

Our report and interactive map will be available on August 6 at New York River Watch’s official website. Bookmark the page and check back often for updates, resources, and ways you can take action.