This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the "Solid Waste
Management Disposal Facilities Law of the Town of Brant."
The Town Board of the Town of Brant is concerned with the public health,
welfare and safety of the community. The Town Board hereby declares that waste
disposal facilities such as landfills, ashfills, construction and demolition
debris processing disposal facilities, commercial composting, resource recovery,
and incineration facilities present an unacceptable land use, environmental
risk, and threat to the local economy in the Town of Brant. Among other factors,
the Board finds as follows:
A. The Town Board notes that a key aspect of permitting
any in-ground disposal facility is the assurance that natural resources will
be protected from leachate created by the facilities. Of particular concern
is groundwater, because of the wide-scale reliance on groundwater as a drinking
source within the Town. The EPA has, in proposing its Solid Waste Disposal
Criteria [Federal Register, 53(168):33314-33422, August 30, 1988] stated,
"First, even the best liner and leachate collection system will ultimately
fail due to natural deterioration, and recent improvements in MSWLF (municipal
solid waste landfill) containment technologies suggest that releases may be
delayed by many decades at some landfills." Further, in discussing criteria
for municipal solid waste landfills (July 1988) the EPA has also stated, "Once
the unit is closed, the bottom layer of the landfill will deteriorate over
time and, consequently, will not prevent leachate transport out of the unit."
The Town Board further recognizes that the inability of geological science
to precisely ascertain the existence and flow of groundwaters and to map subterranean
geology makes it impossible to determine the extent to which solid and liquid
waste disposal may, or may not, contaminate water supplies. EPA and DEC permitting
procedures utilize modeling to determine whether contamination, once it occurs,
but, as leading scientists have continually stated, monitoring will not guarantee
detection prior to contamination.
B. Moreover, the accumulated extent of hazardous waste disposal
in solid and liquid waste disposal facilities cannot be measured or accurately
determined because of state and federal regulations permitting disposal of
residential or small user quantities of hazardous wastes.
C. The Town Board also recognizes that future correction
of pollution from solid or liquid waste management facilities, including sanitary
landfills, construction and demolition debris disposal facilities, and incineration
facilities, may be very expensive or even impossible to achieve. DEC studies,
including the Upstate New York Groundwater Management Plan, cite disposal
facilities as major sources of water contamination, including groundwater
contamination. This causes particular concern because, unlike urban or suburban
communities, the rural nature of the Town makes the use of public water supplies
prohibitively expensive. Accordingly, the threat of groundwater pollution
is much more serious in the Town of Brant due to the lack of potential remedies.
D. The Town's need for waste disposal is being met,
and this chapter neither conflicts nor hinders the operation of any local
solid waste plan.
E. The Town Board finds, based on its review of existing
facilities and present community development goals, that the community's
character will be adversely and unalterably impacted by the location and operation
of any solid or liquid waste management facilities within the Town.
F. Substantial scientific opinion questions the environmental
and health effects of both resource recovery facilities that incinerate or
burn solid waste and of the handling and disposal of ash residue from such
facilities, and the containment methods for liquid waste.
G. The Town of Brant contains significant natural and cultural
resources. The wetlands and woodlands contained within the Town are a precious
ecological resource and are deserving of the utmost protection.
H. These resources constitute crucial physical, ecological,
social, aesthetic, recreational, and economical assets, and their preservation
is necessary to protect and promote the health, safety, and general welfare
of present and future residents of the Town.
I. The siting, construction, operation and expansion of
solid waste management facilities within the Town of Brant will affect and
impact upon all Brant residents. Furthermore, facilities which are poorly
sited or operated may have a negative environmental impact on the surrounding
communities together with Lake Erie public beaches and fisheries because they
can contaminate groundwater and surface water, and lead to odors and air pollution.
This chapter shall be applicable to all areas within the Town of Brant.
No solid waste management disposal facility shall hereafter be sited,
constructed, expanded, transferred, or operated within the Town of Brant.