Hudson Falls takes action on incinerator

May 1-HUDSON FALLS - Residents who have long despaired over the Wheelabrator Hudson Falls incinerator that sometimes belches white smoke and often emits foul odors over their homes, now have a glimmer of hope. The village's Board of Trustees passed the Hudson Falls Clean Air Law on April 20, a measure that will require the 35-year-old garbage-burning plant to upgrade its emissions controls and monitor and publicly report emissions of 16 pollutants. "I am ecstatic," said resident Rosemary Madonna, who can see the plant from her backyard. "All the work we did over the past few years with our neighbors, getting petitions signed, going to meetings, educating the village, took time, but the village definitely listened and got it right." Though neighbors and environmental groups have sought to close the trash incinerator for decades, the new local law will not shut it down. Its proximity to the Hudson River and homes has been a concern for neighbors for decades. Their worries have increased since the plant's air permit expired in 2024. Still, Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls, a local grassroots coalition working to reduce the region's air pollution, is pleased with the new law that will require Wheelabrator to tell residents what is being released into the air. The group's chair, Tracy Frisch, called it "a right to know law." "We commend the Hudson Falls Village Board for listening to constituents' serious concerns about air pollution from the aging garbage incinerator and taking action to protect the community," Frisch wrote in a statement. "The foremost responsibility of our government is to provide for public safety. We are enormously pleased that the mayor and village trustees are responding to the local call to protect area residents from this major polluter." Village attorney Bill Nikas said the law will monitor pollutants, including PCBs, PFOA, carbon dioxide, hydrochloric acid, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury. The law also notes that any waste disposal facility "shall disclose all data provided by CEMS (Continuing Emissions Monitoring System)" on the Wheelabrator's public website. Some information, if automated, is required to be posted within 24 hours, "including total amounts of releases of each chemical in pounds per day and per year." "It will take an investment to upgrade their equipment to meet current emission standards," Nikas said. Mary Urban, a spokeswoman for Wheelabrator Hudson Falls, which is owned by national company WIN Waste Innovations, noted the state, not the village, oversees emissions and the plant's air permit. "WIN Waste Innovations' Hudson Falls facility operates in compliance with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation air emissions standards, which are among the most stringent in the nation and more protective than federal requirements," Urban wrote in an email. "The DEC serves as the exclusive authority for air quality permitting and oversight through the state's federally delegated program. This framework ensures that air emissions are regulated using science-based, technical expertise and recognizes that air quality impacts extend beyond municipal boundaries. These decisions are appropriately made at the state level to protect public health and the communities we serve." But Nikas said the community is skeptical of the DEC. He pointed to a September 2023 audit of the agency by the state comptroller's office, which found there were "gaps in policy that are creating risks." Among the findings, the audit stated: "The department's air permitting process is not adequately allowing residents, particularly low-income and minority communities across the state within potential EJ (environmental justice) communities, to obtain information about the harmful effects of pollution emitted in their communities and (is) limiting opportunities to address concerns about their community's air quality, which could disproportionately impact residents of EJ areas." Hudson Falls is considered by the DEC to be a potential environmental justice community, which the State Climate Policy Dashboard managed by the nonprofit Climate XChange defines as a disadvantaged community that experiences greater exposure to environmental hazards. Wheelabrator's air permit expired in November 2024. Just months before, in June 2024, nearby residents complained of black, noxious-smelling smoke billowing from the plant. Residents thought the plant was on fire. WIN Waste Innovations, at the time, said it was "a rare smoke event." Neighbors in the area have also complained about crashing and whirring noises emanating from the plant. Urban cautioned that "substituting alarm for peer-reviewed science and regulatory data undermines the established environmental framework designed to protect everyone." The DEC emailed a statement noting it is reviewing Wheelabrator's air permit. "If the application is determined to be complete, DEC will provide notice of complete application in the Environmental Notice Bulletin and commence a public comment period," the statement read. "DEC will review all comments received before making a final determination on the permit application." DEC also explained that a facility's current permit remains "effective" so long as a timely and sufficient renewal application is submitted to the agency. "While the renewal application is being processed, DEC continues to require facilities to comply with all permit requirements in their operations to ensure protection of public health and the environment," the agency explained. Despite years of complaints, Washington County officials pushed back on the passage of the new emissions law, too. A March 31 letter from the county Planning Agency to Mayor John Barton recommended he "refer the matter" to the DEC. The county also wanted the village to "do a countywide municipal impact study" on how "the law could impact operation of the only large-scale waste processing facility." They also told the village they would need a supermajority to pass it. The five-member board passed it unanimously, showing Nikas said, "the county's waste disposal does not override the health of the community."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.