The Vermont Environmental Court has granted Moretown Landfill a 90-day extension, but the landfill has not said whether it will continue operating through the extension.
Landfill manager Mike DiMaggio said that company officials would be meeting with the Moretown Select Board on Monday, April 22, to discuss the matter with the town and would not comment publicly until then. The landfill is owned by Advanced Disposal.
The Route 2 facility, which was originally ordered by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to stop accepting non-contracted incoming waste by April 15, can now continue operating until July 15.
This extension comes in conjunction with Moretown Landfill's appeal of the ANR's decision not to recertify two of its trash cells and it will allow them to remain open during the appeal process.
The court issued an extension on April 12 in a ruling that acknowledges the concerns raised by neighbors and the state over the landfill's failure to control odors, but points out that it makes no sense for the landfill to begin the process of closing when it might prevail on its appeal.
Closing the landfill requires installing earth and plastic coverings which would have to be removed if the landfill prevails in its appeal.
If the landfill stays open, it would be operating under its previous Agency of Natural Resources permits.
Moretown Landfill stopped accepting non-contracted incoming waste as of April 1—two weeks earlier than the state-mandated closure date—citing "limited air space," Mike DiMaggio said.
Moretown officials subsequently asked the state to help the town achieve a "soft landing" in terms of the loss of income from the landfill. The town has received about a half a million dollars in tipping fees from the landfill annually for several decades.
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