Latest news with #ClaireSullivan
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Casella sues state over permit denial for proposed Dalton landfill
Granite State Landfill LLC, a subsidiary of the Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems, filed the legal complaint in Merrimack County Superior Court Tuesday. (Photo by Claire Sullivan/New Hampshire Bulletin) A company that has spent years trying to build a landfill near a lake in a northern New Hampshire town is taking a recent permit denial to court. Granite State Landfill LLC, a subsidiary of the Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems, filed a legal complaint in Merrimack County Superior Court Tuesday against the state's Department of Environmental Services, arguing the administrative rule that the agency used to deny its application 'violates the constitutional separation of powers by usurping legislative authority.' Last week, DES denied the company's solid waste permit application for the proposed landfill in Dalton, which has drawn years of opposition over its close proximity to Forest Lake and fears about negative public health and environmental impacts. The agency said the application had become dormant and was therefore denied under its rules. While the solid waste permit is one of several sought by the company, the project cannot move forward without it. In Tuesday's legal complaint, the company argued that that dormancy rule is beyond the scope of the department's legal authority, making its denial of the permit application on that basis 'unlawful.' GSL is asking the court to declare that the rule is void for that reason and, consequently, the denial. The company also said it would seek an appeal of the denial through the state's Waste Management Council. Jim Martin, a public information officer for the department, said DES 'cannot comment on ongoing litigation.' This latest chapter comes at a new height of political opposition against the landfill. In her inaugural address, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte vowed she would not allow the project to go forward and endorsed a one-year pause on all new landfills in the state, a stark change in tone and policy from her predecessor Chris Sununu. In the Legislature, a host of bills aim to address various waste issues in New Hampshire, including strengthening siting requirements that critics say are far too relaxed. Jeff Weld, Casella's vice president of communications, said the company was 'confident' its petition for declaratory judgment would be successful, and that 'the development of the Granite State Landfill will remain on track.' He defended the project as creating needed additional disposal capacity, something opponents have argued the state won't need for years. 'It is unfortunate that despite providing thousands of pages of documents over the course of two years and nearly a dozen separate supplemental submissions in response to requests from NHDES, that they chose to deny the permit application based on dormancy,' Weld said. 'The ongoing submissions, conversations, and work being conducted in support of the permit application supports our claim in the petition that there is no way for the application to be considered 'dormant' within any ordinary meaning of that word.' His statement echoes a point made in the legal filing; while the company argues that dormancy is not a legitimate reason for the department to deny its permit application, it also argues that the permit could in 'no way' be considered dormant 'within the ordinary meaning of that word.' The company said it has submitted 'approximately 4,000 pages of documents and plans' to the department, that it has made 'ten substantial submissions' since the application was filed in October 2023, and that 'most of GSL's submissions were in response to additional information sought by NHDES in letters finding the application 'incomplete.'' Amy Manzelli, an attorney with BCM Environmental & Land Law who represents the North Country Alliance for Balanced Change, a citizen group opposed to the landfill, said GSL and its parent company, Casella, 'sometimes fall into this trap of mistaking quantity for quality.' 'The complaint goes on at length about how much quantity of application material GSL submitted, but that doesn't necessarily mean they met the required quality of information that they needed to provide,' Manzelli said, 'and I think they just missed the mark on that.' She said she doesn't think the company has a 'winning argument.' 'There's a clear statutory authorization to the Department of Environmental Services to make rules about denying permit applications, and so the department went ahead and did that,' Manzelli said. In its permit denial last week, the department told the company that a permit application becomes dormant when the applicant fails to submit required information requested by the department within a year of first being notified that the application is incomplete, a date that came in February for Casella. A dormant, incomplete application 'shall be deemed denied without further action by the department,' said Michael Wimsatt, director of DES' waste management division, in a letter to the company. Wimsatt said the application remained incomplete for a number of reasons, like not including a 'site report that demonstrates that the location of the proposed facility complies with all applicable siting requirements and that the site is a suitable location for the proposed facility….' Additionally, 'the maps, figures, and hydrogeological report' submitted by the applicant in 2023 had not been updated to show compliance with the state's regulations that were updated in December, Wimsatt said. Wimsatt also said that legal agreements submitted by the company 'failed to fulfill application requirements because they were heavily redacted and referenced other legal agreements, which were not provided.' The company asserts in its legal complaint that it 'provided all the necessary information to complete the Application by February 27, 2025, at the latest.' It also argued the department was 'not entitled to the entirety of the agreement between GSL and the landowner, where the redacted terms have no bearing on whether GSL will have the requisite ownership interest.' It also pointed to the fact that the updated rules were not in effect at the time its application was determined to be incomplete. Adam Finkel, a Dalton resident and former federal regulator who opposes the project, has also frequently been critical of the department. He pointed to those critiques in outlining his doubts about Casella's legal argument. 'My real beef with DES and with the Legislature is that the statutes give them (the department) too much authority. … Like (RSA) 149-M says, 'Go ahead and make rules in the following 11 areas,'' Finkel said. 'So there's almost nothing they're not allowed to do. So I was actually kind of amazed that Casella's now saying, you know, 'You don't have authority to do this,' because the statutes are so open ended.' He urged the Senate, which has traditionally been a hurdle to landfill legislation, to approve a moratorium, bolster siting requirements, and greenlight other bills aimed at strengthening the state's waste policy. 'The Senate has no excuse now but to pass these bills, because we're under siege from a company that won't go away,' Finkel said.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Women make up half of NH's population. You wouldn't know it by looking at the Legislature.
The New Hampshire House convenes on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Photo by Claire Sullivan/New Hampshire Bulletin) Women hold top spots in New Hampshire politics, including the governorship and three-quarters of the congressional delegation. In the Legislature, though, they remain significantly underrepresented. While women make up 50.1% of the state's population, per the latest census, they make up only 35.8% of the legislative chambers combined, according to data from Rutgers University's Center for American Women in Politics. Historically and today, the largest gender gaps are in the 400-person House. Women are also typically underrepresented in the 24-person Senate, but they have reached gender parity briefly this century and, for two years, outnumbered men in the chamber by one seat. Women lawmakers across the political spectrum offered a variety of opinions on why women remain underrepresented in the Legislature — and whether that underrepresentation has policy consequences for the state. While New Hampshire's citizen Legislature is a point of pride for many, some said the $100-a-year pay had a disproportionate impact on women, who studies show still bear the brunt of child care and domestic duties. Women who were raising children while in office said strong support systems were essential for allowing them to do their work as elected officials. Researchers said women see better representation in legislatures that are more professionalized, meaning elected office is a full-time job with better pay and resources like strong staff support and an office. They also pointed to other factors affecting women's participation, like party recruitment efforts. Some lawmakers described the personal impact of being a woman in a space dominated by men. They felt they had to work harder than their male colleagues to be taken seriously, and faced gendered stereotyping or assumptions. Meanwhile, others felt their gender posed no or little challenge to their political life. New Hampshire is in the middle of the pack among states when it comes to women's representation in legislatures. Nevada is the only legislature where women outnumber men, making up 60.3% of the chambers. In Arizona, women and men have equal representation, and in the other 48 states, there are more men than women. In Congress, 28% of lawmakers are women. The share of women in the Legislature, with some spikes, has remained relatively stagnant over the decades. 'One of the things that those of us who study this like to say is that, you know, there's nothing inevitable about women's representation. It's not as though time itself changes anything,' said Anna Mahoney, the executive director of Dartmouth College's Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. 'What changes women's participation in government is action, either on behalf of political parties, or grassroots organizations, (or) women candidates themselves.' There's a question Becky Whitley heard more than any other in her brief run for the state's 2nd Congressional District last year — a question she wonders if a male candidate would hear. 'The number one question that I was asked, even by my own family members, was, you know: 'What about your son?'' Whitley said. 'And so I just question whether — and I don't know, I can't speak from experience — do men get the same questions, right?' Whitley represented the capital area as a Democrat in the state Senate from 2020 to 2024. In her political experience, she felt women faced different pressures and expectations than men. That was felt across the aisle, too. Sen. Denise Ricciardi, a Bedford Republican and a deputy majority leader in the Senate, said she's used to challenging those expectations. 'If you've seen me, I have big hair, and I wear high heels. I think that people underestimate me because I don't want to change my style to be taken more seriously, right?' Ricciardi said. 'So you have to work harder. … I have to prove myself, but I don't mind. In fact, it feels like a victory when you do prove yourself, and people see the real you.' Ricciardi isn't a fan of party politics; she said she's motivated instead by 'doing what's right for people.' She said she feels women in a male-dominated space 'have to work harder to be taken more seriously.' While she said she hasn't really experienced this perception from voters, 'I definitely think with colleagues, I think there's just this thought that … we're not as smart or we can't do it … the way they want to do it,' she said. Whitley said 'women have a very fine line to walk.' 'I felt this acutely in terms of … our standards for behavior, in terms of how strong we can be, in terms of our decorum, in terms of what we look like, what we can say,' Whitley said. 'I felt very acutely that the line for what was appropriate for women in, you know, the public sphere was … quite different than it is for men. And so … I have always felt like, you know, I have to work a little bit harder. I have to be a little bit clearer. I have to … really walk that line. And I certainly think that men in my same position don't feel that way.' Other women lawmakers felt differently. Asked whether there are still obstacles for women in politics today, Sen. Regina Birdsell, a Hampstead Republican who serves as majority leader, said, 'When I first got in, I say yes, but things are really starting to open up.' She said she has often observed women beat out men in legislative races, and that she has seen more younger women getting involved than when she first ran in 2010. 'If a woman is really interested in running, and they do it right, I think they have a much better chance of prevailing,' Birdsell said. 'So I think … if you know how to do it, and you do it right, I think the door is wide open for you.' Rep. Judy Aron, a South Acworth Republican who chairs the House Environment and Agriculture Committee, said she felt 'we're way past that' in terms of women facing obstacles in politics. 'I don't know that there's any particular right number of percentage. I mean, why should it be 50/50?' Aron said. 'I think it's a matter of … who our voters think are qualified to do these jobs, or be in these elected positions.' But others felt fewer women in the Legislature meant less attention on issues that impact women. Mahoney, the Dartmouth researcher, said 'a lot of the research shows that when you have more women in your legislature, the topics that you're talking about and the legislative agenda itself shifts.' Ricciardi pointed to the 'Momnibus' bills, legislation aimed at maternal health spearheaded by women. Male colleagues aren't as focused 'on maternal issues, child care issues, family issues as much, and those are really important things that we need in our state,' she said. Women have unique lived experiences to bring to the table, said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat who was the first woman in American history to be elected both as a governor and a U.S. senator. 'You know, I used to say this a lot when I became the first woman to be elected as New Hampshire's governor: women make up half of our population, and we have different life experiences than men do,' Shaheen said in a statement to the Bulletin. 'Not better or worse — but different, and it's important to have those experiences and views represented, regardless of which side of the aisle those women fall on.' Women shape elected bodies beyond just legislation, Mahoney said. Their presence in legislatures can affect everything from the architecture of the buildings where they work — adding women's restrooms by the chambers' floors where they weren't before or rooms for nursing — to the culture of the chambers. 'When we look to see what kind of impact women have once they're in the institution,' she said, 'one of the things that I like to look at is not just necessarily the bills that they are supporting or that they're voting for, but how they're changing the institution itself.' The challenges facing women are multipronged, and so are the solutions to getting more in office, researchers said. 'We need societal and cultural change,' Mahoney said, 'but we also need the nuts and bolts of party infrastructure and legitimate support in order to increase the number of women running for office.' Those recruitment efforts may be difficult for candidates of any gender at a time 'when government is not necessarily seen as a place where good things can get done efficiently,' and trust in American institutions is low, she said. In terms of challenges on the campaign trail, research into voters' perceptions of women candidates is 'sort of mixed,' Mahoney said. In the general election, 'you don't see as much bias, because people are really relying on party cues, and so they're going to vote for their party regardless of who the candidate is,' she said. 'It's really in those primary contests where women face specific challenges of fundraising, whether they are perceived to be really legitimate candidates that can win, and those sorts of things.' Women candidates can benefit in elections where topics considered 'women's issues' — like reproductive rights — are important, Mahoney said. The set-up of a legislature can pose its own challenges. Emily Baer, an assistant professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire, pointed to the fact that in more professionalized legislatures, with better pay and more staff support, 'women tend to be better represented.' The 'flip side' of having a citizen Legislature in New Hampshire, she said, 'is it's much harder for women to serve in a state that is not providing them with the resources to pursue that as a career, while also balancing other things in their personal and professional lives.' This may have an acute effect on women in particular because of factors like being underrepresented in professions that are considered political pipelines, as well as access to child care and other resources, she said. 'A lot of studies still show that women, even when they are working full-time professional careers, still do a lot more at home in terms of household responsibilities and child care responsibilities,' Baer said, 'and serving in the state Legislature — particularly if it's not something that can be a career for them, and they're balancing it alongside their own professional career and then higher levels of responsibility at home — that's something that affects women politicians much more than it would affect male politicians.' Additionally, the citizen Legislature has a 'bias towards older, retired individuals,' Baer said, 'because they might have more time and slightly better financial position to allow them to serve in those legislatures. And so when we talk about parity in women's representation, you want parity that actually reflects the diversity of that group as well.' Research has found that women often wait to run for office until their children have gone to school or left home, which 'frequently delays women's entrance into politics,' Mahoney said. For many, family support is key. Whitley, the former capital-area state senator, said her supportive spouse and community, as well as her mother nearby, made her public service possible. 'But not everyone has that, and so if one of those things weren't true, I wouldn't have been able to serve,' Whitley said. And, even then, serving longer than the four years she was in office 'just wasn't sustainable for my family,' she said. Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, the Senate minority leader and a Portsmouth Democrat, said her legislative work 'requires a lot of supportive people in my life, and also a really good mastery of Google calendar.' She's found it helpful to talk with other moms doing similar work, and she hopes to return the help, even if it's just talking about the actual logistics of the job, like juggling legislative demands with getting the kids to school. 'Just being able to kind of demystify that, I think, for people makes it a little more accessible,' she said. Birdsell, the Senate majority leader, said a program she was in aimed at getting Republican women in the state to run for office helped her greatly. They learned about media, the basics of the Legislature, went to Washington, D.C., and met stakeholders involved in the political process. That program is now defunct, but she said she would love to see its return. And while state legislatures can be stepping stones to higher office, a number of women who propelled themselves to the highest political planes in New Hampshire — Congress and the governorship — did so without first serving in the State House, Baer noted, suggesting other avenues for women candidates. Perkins Kwoka thinks women serving can act as a positive feedback loop. 'The more women we have serving, the more women, I think, will be able to see themselves in the role,' she said.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In Claremont, a plan to accept demolition waste at recycling plant is met with fierce resistance
Around the corner from the facility site in Claremont stands a sign against the permit modification request. (Claire Sullivan | New Hampshire Bulletin) Kipp Ryan was born and raised in Claremont, a western New Hampshire city of about 13,000. He describes himself as a proud resident, and stayed there to raise his children. But that might change, he said, if the state agrees to let Massachusetts-based Acuity Management modify a 1987 permit for a small recycling facility to accept up to 500 tons a day of construction and demolition debris near a local elementary school and some 400 homes. Residents have fought hard to break the stigma that Claremont is a dumping ground, and this project would undermine those efforts, Ryan said. 'If we allow stuff like this, we're out,' Ryan said of himself and his family. 'We're not going to stick around. There's not going to be a future here.' How to submit public comments to DES The public can submit comments on the permit modification request from now until 4 p.m. on March 27, a weeklong extension from the original date. Comments may be submitted via email to by postage to NHDES-SWMB Attn: Jason Evancic, PO Box 95, Concord, NH, 03302; or submitted in person to the agency's office at 29 Hazen Drive in Concord. More information on the proposal, including links to the modification request, can be found online here. He was one of dozens of residents who turned out to the Claremont Opera House Thursday evening for a three-hour public hearing hosted by the Department of Environmental Services. The agency is accepting public comment on the permit modification request until 4 p.m. on March 27, after which it has 30 days to make a decision on the company's request. Like Ryan, many local residents feared what the project would do to a city that has fought hard to build itself up. They worry about harmful environmental contaminants like heavy metals and PFAS ending up in a nearby brook that feeds into the Connecticut River, as well as an aquifer that abuts the facility. They wonder how Claremont's roads — which in many places are already crumbling or littered with potholes — could withstand dozens of more trucks a day, and fear their taxes would rise to fund repairs. They're also concerned about how the traffic and noise pollution could impact students at Maple Avenue Elementary School, less than a mile drive from the facility and even closer on foot. And for the hundreds who live in proximity to the lot, they worry the development would cause property values to plummet. Some questioned why DES had deemed the application complete in the fall, the first step in the agency's permit review process, pointing to what they felt were scant details in the company's proposal. They also felt the 1.5-acre lot was far too small to accommodate the proposed activities, and pointed to facilities doing similar work that are many times larger. But most of all, it seemed, residents wondered how many times they would have to tell the company 'no' after spending years fighting one iteration of the proposal or another. The opposition to the project was overwhelming; in the public comment portion of the hearing, 48 people spoke in opposition, while two voiced support. Beneath the ornate decor of the dim theater, residents applauded, cheered, and waved pink, homemade paper hearts as opponents enumerated their critiques of the company's proposal. 'I am very concerned that Acuity, who has heard 'no' again and again over these last six years, seems to not understand,' said Judith Koester, who lives near the facility. 'Which is it that you don't understand — the 'n' or the 'o'?' The Claremont Conservation Commission, a representative of the school board, and several lawmakers spoke against the project. Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, a Democrat whose constituency includes Claremont, said she was there to observe. Naomi Praul, a civil engineer who gave a presentation on behalf of the company, said the current permit allows the facility to accept 'paper, cardboard, metal, glass, plastics, automotive batteries, and tires.' The permit modification, if approved, would continue to allow the acceptance of those materials, as well as construction and demolition debris — also called C&D debris – which 'may be comprised of materials such as concrete, drywall, wood, roofing shingles – essentially, materials that could be generated during the home renovation project,' Praul said. The company would take out recyclable materials, such as asphalt, wood, and metal, which would prevent them from ending up in a landfill, Praul argued. Nonrecyclable materials would be transported out of the state to be disposed of, she said. 'To be clear, C&D does not include asbestos or other hazardous waste,' Praul said, a point that faced questioning from residents, who feared that such hazardous material would not be discovered until it is sorted through at the Claremont facility. Francesco Finocchiaro, vice president of Recycling Services Inc., of which Acuity is the parent company, said in an email to the Bulletin that 'there are many laws in place that prevent contaminants from entering our waste streams.' 'First, demolition permits are required by local building departments to contractors, prior to demolishing structures. This is our first line of defense,' he said. 'When contaminants are found, specialists are required and hired to remove the hazardous waste products. The materials are then taken (to) facilities that are permitted to accept them. We will not be one of them.' He said that incoming loads would be manually inspected for hazardous materials, and if found, the load would be rejected. 'We have spoken to people in the community who are not against these changes, but they are hesitant to speak publicly on our behalf,' Finocchiaro wrote. 'We are part of this community, and we value the trust we have been given. We believe we can effectively reduce landfill waste by increasing our recycling capacity.' Some residents said they were excited when they first heard of the project, as they are supportive of more recycling. But as they dug into the proposal, they changed their mind. For many, that was because of what they felt was simply a bad location for the project, due to traffic concerns, the lot size, and its proximity to the local elementary school and hundreds of homes. Rep. Judy Aron, a South Acworth Republican and chair of the House Environment and Agriculture Committee, said she came to the meeting Thursday to listen and learn. 'Based on what I've heard tonight from members of this community, I absolutely agree that this particular site is inappropriate,' Aron said to loud applause. 'It may be a very good project, but it's absolutely the inappropriate site for it.' Eric Peabody, a lifelong Claremont resident and father of two children at the local elementary school, said he came to the hearing in his capacity as a licensed land surveyor with 19 years of experience. He said the 1.5-acre lot was simply too small to handle processing seven times the material it is currently permitted for, drawing a comparison to a facility that does similar work in Epping that operates on 30 acres of a 75-acre property. 'If an airport doesn't meet the requirements to land a 747, you don't try to land it there anyway,' Peabody said. 'You keep flying until a suitable place to land is found. Acuity needs to find a different piece of land that properly meets the requirements for a C&D facility of this magnitude.' Praul said a study from a traffic engineer had 'confirmed the adequacy of the intersections closest to the recycling facility,' and that 'truck circulation patterns through and around the facility have been evaluated to ensure queuing of trucks will not occur in Industrial Boulevard or interfere with surrounding traffic.' However, residents expressed serious doubts about the ability of their roadways to handle the increased truck loads. Rep. John Cloutier, a Claremont Democrat, said he hears from his constituents constantly that 'roads are in bad shape.' 'Frankly, the city doesn't have the resources now to adequately maintain the road infrastructure, not even close,' said Rep. Hope Damon, a Croydon Democrat. '... This is an extremely unreasonable burden for the city of Claremont.' For two local teenagers, the project felt like a threat to their future in Claremont and the environmental and public health of their community. Connor Fullmer, a 17-year-old who heard about the public hearing in science class at Stevens High School, fears how potential pollution could impact local wildlife. 'When does this end? We've been saying 'no' for forever. Why won't they answer us? Why won't they take 'no' as an answer?' Fullmer said, choked with emotion. 'Why do they think they can come here and do all of this to us?' Another Claremont teen, Gabriel Brown, expressed fears the project could spread environmental contaminants linked to a host of negative health effects. 'I am currently 16 years old, and this is my future,' Brown said. 'I can't live here if this is going to happen … in our city.' Marilla Harris-Vincent, a Claremont resident and the New Hampshire river steward at the Connecticut River Conservancy, said the organization strongly opposes the modification request because of concerns it could lead to the contamination of Meadow Brook (a tributary of the Connecticut River), surrounding wetlands, and an adjacent aquifer. Hayley Jones, the Vermont and New Hampshire state director of Slingshot, an organization that works with communities impacted by environmental health threats, said the project posed the risk of spreading PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of synthetic chemicals linked to numerous negative health outcomes. 'They are used to make thousands of products, including common construction materials, such as roofing glass, interior finishes, exterior coatings and sealants to make these all nonstick and waterproof,' Jones said. 'Hundreds of studies link PFAS exposure to health harms, including testicular, kidney, liver and pancreatic cancer, to reproductive problems, to weakened childhood immunity, low birth weight, endocrine disruption, increased cholesterol, and weight gain in children and adults.' For Ken Burke, who has lived in Claremont since 2007, the health concerns feel especially personal. Burke and his wife ran a small electronics recycling company in Claremont for about 15 years. Along the way, he developed leukemia that he still lives with today; he has been in remission for years, but there is no cure. He has wondered if his exposure to the electronics — working with them at his business and tearing them apart — contributed to his cancer. Toxins in electronic waste have been linked to health effects such as cancer. Now, he fears for his neighbors and worries about what could be in the debris that would be trucked into his city under the proposal. 'Will it be your kids? Will it be your grandkids? Will it be you getting exposed? It only takes a tiny bit,' Burke said. 'The next thing you know, you live with — or you die with — what was dropped off in your neighborhood, and we can't have that. This can't happen.'
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Hampshire lawmakers push for moratorium on new landfills until 2030
A landfill run by Casella Waste Systems in Bethlehem racked up hundreds of violations related to leachate within a year. (Photo by Claire Sullivan/New Hampshire Bulletin) Gov. Kelly Ayotte has said no landfill will be built near Forest Lake in Dalton – but what about other landfills in other places? House Bill 171 would prohibit the Department of Environmental Services from permitting a new landfill in the state until 2030. Its bipartisan group of sponsors hope hitting the pause button will allow for the state to address a myriad of solid waste issues, particularly the state's siting standards, which advocates argue are far too weak, and the hundreds of thousands of tons of out-of-state waste dumped in New Hampshire landfills each year. 'Unless and until we do our job as a Legislature and take action to address this critical issue, we should not be considering opening another landfill that is not needed for New Hampshire's solid waste needs,' said Rep. Nicholas Germana, the Keene Democrat leading the bill, at a Tuesday committee hearing. A little less than half of the trash dumped into the state's landfills comes from other states, according to a report from DES published in 2023. From 2020 to 2022, that equated to more than 2.6 million tons of outside waste. And with that trash, proponents of the bill noted, comes harmful chemicals like PFAS, which are commonly used in consumer and industrial products, and are linked to health effects including some cancers. Some nearby states prohibit the disposal of certain waste within its borders, making the Granite State the target for that trash instead. 'There are things that we can't send into Massachusetts, Vermont, or Maine that we do actually take in return, because they have regulations in place that we do not,' Germana said. Germana argued the state has ample capacity to allow for a temporary pause in building new landfills while policymakers address critical issues in the state's solid waste management. And perhaps there's no time like the present for trash issues in the state. Though legislation aimed at waste has faced an uphill battle in the Legislature, with the Senate rejecting a number of proposals over the years, there's been a shift, some of those close to the issue feel. Ayotte has expressed concern about out-of-state trash, and she vowed in her inaugural address that she would not allow a landfill to be built in the North Country near a lake and state park in Dalton – a major reversal from her predecessor, Chris Sununu. Casella Waste Systems, a Vermont-based company that has racked up hundreds of violations at its Bethlehem landfill, has been fighting for that facility for years. 'Our new governor has openly expressed her concerns about these issues, and with this new alignment of interests between this body and the governor, we are in an excellent position to take meaningful action,' Germana said. Wayne Morrison, president of the North Country Alliance for Balanced Change, a citizen group that has advocated against the landfill and for solid waste reform, said he is 'more optimistic now than ever before.' 'We've been at this for six years, and this is the most constructive, detailed, meaningful conversation I have heard at any point about the solid waste problems in the state of New Hampshire,' Morrison told lawmakers in the House Environment and Agriculture Committee. Michael Wimsatt, director of the waste management division of DES, said the agency was not taking a position on the bill. He raised some technical concerns about wording in the bill, which he said the department would work with the committee on. The legislation faces opposition from the Business & Industry Association, which includes Casella and Waste Management among its members, according to its directory. In online testimony submissions to the committee, 306 were in favor of the bill, and six were against it. Morrison urged lawmakers to be bold, courageous, and to 'stand up' to industry. 'The moratorium is a perfect opportunity to fix a bunch of things that are broken,' Morrison said. 'And I think that's out-of-state waste, I think that's leachate … I think it's PFAS, and I think it's around our site-selection process.'
