SENECA FALLS, N.Y. — The New York State Department of Health released a report finding elevated lung cancer rates in communities near the Seneca Meadows landfill but concluded there is no direct link to the facility. The report examined lung cancer diagnoses in seven census tracts around Seneca Meadows from 1996 to 2021.

The health department found more male lung cancer cases than statistically expected in all seven census tracts analyzed, and female lung cancer cases exceeded expectations in six of the seven tracts. The report notes that only the 26-year results for males in census tracts 9504 and 9506 and for females in tract 9506 were statistically significant. The report states that the areas showing elevated rates are "primarily distant from the landfill."

Observed lung cancer cases for men in census tract 9506 were 151.4 percent higher than expected, while cases for women were 143.9 percent higher than expected. Census tract 9506 covers much of the village of Waterloo, including its high school and middle school, and its eastern border is approximately 1,000 meters from the landfill.

The report examined information about landfill gas components, control, measurement, and air quality around the landfill. It states that its analysis "cannot prove whether specific exposures may have caused or contributed to health outcomes." The health department also stated that smoking is known to cause approximately 80 percent of lung cancer cases. While the report mentions radon gas as the second leading cause of lung cancer, its own test results for radon in Seneca County "do not appear elevated compared to the rest of the state." The report does not mention benzene.

Seneca Meadows and its adjacent energy plant were the largest emitters of benzene in Seneca County in 2017, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. 2017 is the last year for which the EPA has released benzene emission statistics. A peer-reviewed science journal, Copernicus, published aerial estimates identifying Seneca Meadows as the state's largest emitter of methane, recording greenhouse gas emissions rates as high as nearly 7,600 pounds per hour.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is considering Seneca Meadows' application for a state permit to expand its operations until at least 2040. The Seneca Falls Town Board asked the state Department of Environmental Conservation for a review of lung cancer rates around Seneca Meadows. The Department of Environmental Conservation told Waste Connections, the landfill's owners, in May that its expansion application was incomplete, but Seneca Meadows met a July 3 deadline to refile the application.

Mark Pitifer, an employee at Waterloo Container, which is approximately 100 yards from the landfill, stated that the odors are "getting worse and not getting better." He added, "I didn't see where DOH was denying that there are high rates of lung cancer around the landfill." About 20 employees at Waterloo Container complained of strong landfill gas odors on May 15, with company officials measuring hydrogen sulfide levels as high as 29 parts per billion. The health department report states that "data from the hydrogen sulfide monitors indicate that potential exceedances of the ambient air standard have occurred but are infrequent."

Michelle Grillone, a resident of Waterloo, described the smell, saying it is "rancid. It's a garbage smell that makes you feel dizzy right away. It makes you feel nauseous. It gives you a headache." She also said, "You can smell it first-hand in the schools." David Carpenter, a health sciences professor at the University at Albany, stated that he found the report's conclusions not convincing. "It ignores the possible impact of benzene, which I suspect is the cause of those elevations in lung cancer around the landfill," Carpenter said.