Opinion: New York’s Largest Landfill Harms Everyone. But Children Most of All.

“The decision before Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Department of Environmental Conservation is more than a waste management decision. It is a public health decision. Every child deserves a safe place to learn, play, and grow.”

As an environmental health pediatrician, and through my own childhood experiences, I know that outdoor time in healthy and safe environments for kids is strong medicine. It benefits their physical health, supports brain development, strengthens social and emotional wellbeing, and helps build lifelong habits that reduce the risk of chronic disease. 

But for families living under the shadow of New York’s largest landfill, that medicine feels more and more like a privilege. 

The Seneca Meadows landfill accepts up to 6,000 tons of waste per day right in the heart of the Finger Lakes. Like all large landfill operations, it creates several potential pathways of exposure for kids and adults alike. Researchers have identified concerns related to particulate matter, truck emissions, landfill gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, hazardous air pollutants, and other environmental stressors associated with landfill operations. Odors themselves are often more than a nuisance: they can be indicators of a broader mixture of air contaminants present in the surrounding environment.

And since the landfill sits right across the street from a middle school and high school, children deserve special consideration when evaluating these risks.

Kids are not simply smaller adults. Their lungs, brains, and immune systems are still developing, making them more vulnerable to environmental exposures during critical periods of growth. They breathe more air relative to their body weight than adults and often spend more time outdoors engaged in physical activity. Exposures that are harmful to a healthy adult are even more so for a developing child.

That’s why pediatricians and environmental health experts like myself have long advocated for policies that provide children with an added margin of protection. Whether it’s preventing tobacco and nicotine companies from marketing to underage users or adding extra seat belt requirements for young kids, children should be at the forefront of public health concerns. When uncertainty exists, particularly around environmental exposures, our responsibility is to reduce risk whenever possible.

For families living near Seneca Meadows, these concerns are especially acute. Every day, children attend school, participate in sports, or spend time outdoors within sight and smell of the landfill. But parents should not have to wonder whether the air their children are breathing at school may affect their health or interfere with students’ ability to learn. 

Importantly, these concerns aren’t limited to just kids in Seneca County. The landfill is likely the largest single point source of methane in the state and generates up to 200,000 gallons of leachate every day, which is contaminated liquid that forms when water passes through waste. That leachate can contain PFAS and other persistent toxic chemicals that remain in the environment for extended periods of time, building up in our waterways without abatement throughout our kids lives. Moreover, it is transported to treatment facilities across New York State, extending public health implications well beyond just the surrounding community.

With all of this in mind, the decision before Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Department of Environmental Conservation is more than a waste management decision. It is a public health decision. Every child deserves a safe place to learn, play, and grow.

Fortunately, New Yorkers have long been leaders in public health. So as state officials consider the future of Seneca Meadows, they should apply the same principle pediatricians use every day: when there is a credible risk to children’s health, our responsibility is to act. For the children who live, learn, and play in the shadow of New York’s largest landfill, that means denying Seneca Meadows’ expansion once and for all and ensuring its timely closure.

Dr. Charles Moon, MD, FAAP, is chair of the New York State Chapter 3 American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Environmental Health & Climate Change and co-chair of the NYS AAP Public Policy and Advocacy Committee.

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