Town Board Meeting - 11/08/2017
/The following statement is from Gary McNeil on November 8th, 2017 to the Perinton Town Board;
I’m here tonight to inform our representatives of a growing concern to a large number of Perinton residents. The concern centers on the increase in frequency, strength, and radius of the odor emanating from the Waste Management landfill. In the last several weeks, residents have started the process of organizing in hopes of creating change. Based on data collected the odor can clearly be defined as a nuisance to the every-day lives of people on the eastside of town. Most long term residents within a 4 mile radius of the landfill have reported a significant uptick in occurrences, which is having an immediate negative effect on their quality of life, and will soon start to have the same effect on their home values. In a matter of two weeks, a group of 1k individuals have come together to voice concerns. Group members are documenting written and verbal complaints made to WM, collecting data on each occurrence, and planning group meetings to further organize and formulate a plan forward.
As representatives of Perinton residents, you should be aware that this is happening in the community you serve. People love living in this community, but the threshold of odor that people are willing to tolerate is being exceeded. While most that live within a 4 mile radius of the landfill will tell you that some odor is to be expected, going from 4-5 times a year to 4-5 times a week is a 50x increase, and it will drive people out of this community.
I grew up 3 miles from the landfill and spent over 20 years in that house in Country Downs, and not once during my childhood did I smell the odor from that location. After moving away for 10 years, my family moved back to Fairport and lived in Mason Valley from 2012 to 2015. We smelled the odor a handful of times each year. In 2015 we moved to Magnolia Manor, which is about 1.5 miles from the landfill. Prior to purchasing the house we researched the effects of the landfill on that neighborhood. We were confident that WM had shown the ability manage the odor at acceptable levels of 4-5 times per year. The current data is showing that the dynamic has changed. WM no longer has control over the odor they are releasing from the site. 4-5 times per year has turned into 4-5 times per week. This isn’t the problem of 1 or 2 neighborhoods. The data shows that the entire eastside of this community, which is comprised of thousands of households, can’t live with the current results.
Our group will continue to organize, gather data, engage WM, the DEC, and local representatives in discussion, but ultimately, if change doesn’t occur in a timely manner, media coverage and litigation may be required. As board members, Perinton residents have an expectation that even if you don’t have the ability to enforce regulations over WM to control the odor, you will be an advocate for change, oversight, and ultimately making sure that prior decisions made by the board which have led to our current situation are rectified.
Thank you for your time.