“So-called advanced recycling is too often just incineration by another name,” said CLF President Brad Campbell. “EPA is right to reverse course on a proposal that would have validated the petrochemical industry’s deceit, increased toxic exposure in communities, and accelerated the already overwhelming proliferation of single-use plastics threatening our health and our environment.“
CLF has provided the Healey administration with steps to slash climate pollution to net zero by 2050.
Parallel Products wants to expand its current recycling facility into a trash transfer station. That spells bad news for the New Bedford residents. CLF and our partners are stepping up to protect the community and environment.
The derailment of a train carrying toxic petroleum-based chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio in February is a sad consequence of the fossil fuel industry’s deadly plastics push.
“Everyone deserves a say in what happens in their backyards, no matter what language they speak,” said Staci Rubin, Vice President of Environmental Justice at CLF. “It’s unconscionable that Massachusetts officials are allowing this polluting project to plow ahead in the face of such strong community opposition. The EPA needs to step in and force the state to do the right thing by starting this process over.”
CLF’s Great Bay–Piscataqua Waterkeeper brings together partners and dozens of volunteers on annual cleanup to remove polluting debris from the estuary’s shoreline.
A newly approve facility will turn methane gas leaked from the Juniper Ridge landfill into energy, but it’s really just a way for the fossil fuel and waste industries to maintain the status quo.
“We’ll say it again: there is simply no need for this landfill,” said CLF staff attorney Heidi Trimarco. “The Waste Management Council has made it clear yet again that the state cannot permit new landfills that aren’t needed to satisfy New Hampshire’s disposal needs. It’s time for Casella to give up this fight and be a partner in reducing waste through recycling and composting.”
“We need to move away from burying and burning, and towards reducing, reusing, and composting,” said Staci Rubin of Conservation Law Foundation. “A sustainable future means reducing burdens on communities of color and low-income residents who shoulder the brunt of waste disposal. We don’t need to invent any new technologies, we just need the Commonwealth to devote resources to education and enforcement.”
“After DES blatantly ignored the law requiring an updated waste plan, any progress is a step in the right direction,” said CLF New Hampshire attorney Heidi Trimarco. “But this draft plan is inadequate and uninspiring. Instead of demonstrating leadership and providing the guidance New Hampshire needs, DES has provided just a laundry list of recommendations, without any real steps to actually achieve them.”
