09-04-2025
Casella subsidiary sues NH over Dalton landfill permit denial
A company looking to build a new landfill on a controversial site in the North Country town of Dalton is suing state environmental officials, claiming a rule used to deny its permit application 'violates the constitutional separation of powers by usurping legislative authority.'
Granite State Landfill LLC, a subsidiary of Rutland, Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems, filed a complaint Tuesday in Merrimack Superior Court against the state Department of Environmental Services (DES).
Granite State Landfill (GSL) had filed an application with DES to open a proposed 70-acre lined landfill that would replace Casella's North Country Environmental Services (NCES) Landfill in Bethlehem, which is scheduled to stop accepting waste in 2028.
Casella appealed the state Waste Management Council's decision to reject a previous landfill permit request to the state Supreme Court.
The site of the Dalton landfill would be less than half a mile from Forest Lake State Park, sparking attempts over the past three years to convince the Legislature to impose more restrictions on siting landfills in the state. The Legislature created a study group to examine the issue and make recommendations.
DES ruled GSL's application is considered 'dormant,' and denied the request according to its rules. In a complaint filed Tuesday, GSL argues state law specifies the grounds on which DES may deny an application.
'Dormancy is not one of those grounds,' the complaint read. 'GSL submitted its application in October of 2023 and has made ten substantial submissions to NHDES since then to supplement the application, the last of which was provided on February 27, 2025. Most of GSL's submissions were in response to additional information sought by NHDES in letters finding the application 'incomplete.'
'In no way could GSL's application be considered 'dormant' within the ordinary meaning of that word,' the complaint argued.
While GSL says it plans to appeal the decision to the New Hampshire Waste Management Council, it says because the administrative rule on which NHDES based its decision violates the constitutional separation of powers by 'usurping legislative authority,' GSL is asking the court to declare the rule void.
Jim Martin, public information officer for NHDES, said the department 'cannot comment about ongoing litigation.'
Jeff Weld, vice president of communications for Casella, said that if additional capacity is not permitted, 'New Hampshire residents and businesses throughout the state will likely incur additional disposal costs due to increased transportation charges and decreased competition in the marketplace.'
'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 wrote in an email. '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. We are confident that our petition for declaratory judgment will be successful, and the development of the Granite State Landfill will remain on track.'
Weld said the need for disposal capacity to serve more than 60,000 customers and nearly 200 New Hampshire towns once NCES ceases operations in Bethlehem 'is made clear by NHDES' in its biennial report.
The Dalton landfill proposal is facing renewed political opposition. In her inaugural address in January, Gov. Kelly Ayotte addressed the topic, saying the 'greatest resource our state has besides its people is our beautiful landscape.'
'No other state boasts the natural beauty we do, and there is a lot that comes along with that, from recreation to tourism, to industry as well,' Ayotte said. 'There will be no landfill at Forest Lake in Dalton. We will not allow that beautiful area of our state to become a dumping ground for out-of-state trash. Not gonna happen.'
Asked about DES's denial of the permit application, Ayotte said they "did their work and they denied the permit on the Dalton landfill that is in the court process and I expect that will be followed.'
'Of course, I have confidence that they did their work properly but that will be defended by the attorney general's office.'
In denying the permit application last week, DES officials said a permit application becomes dormant when the applicant fails to submit required information requested within a year of first being notified an application is incomplete — which came and went in February for GSL's application.
In a letter, Michael Wimsatt, director of DES' waste management division, wrote a dormant incomplete application is 'deemed denied without further action by the department.'
In its complaint, GSL claims it 'provided all the necessary information to complete the application by February 27, 2025, at the latest.'
