Governor vetoes bill to tighten permitting rules for new landfills
Bill was written in response to controversial landfill proposal in Dalton
Bill was written in response to controversial landfill proposal in Dalton
Bill was written in response to controversial landfill proposal in Dalton
Gov. Chris Sununu has vetoed a bill that would have tightened the permitting process for new landfills in New Hampshire.
House Bill 1454 would have repealed the standard 200-foot buffer between a landfill and a lake, river or coastline in New Hampshire and replaced it with a site-specific evaluation that took into account the flow of groundwater.
The bill was written in response to a proposed controversial landfill next to Forest Lake State Park in Dalton.
In his veto message on Friday, Governor Sununu said he agreed with experts at the Department of Environmental Services that the bill would have been better suited as a study.
“It is extremely likely this bill would curtail landfill development in the state and lead to New Hampshire's waste to be transported out of state, creating higher costs and property taxes for our citizens,” he wrote.
The governor also said the requirements of the bill would have likely prevented construction of some of the seven lined landfills currently operating in the state.
In a Facebook post, the group Save Forest Lake, which opposed the Dalton landfill proposal, wrote: “Despite years of pleading from citizens and property owners, asking for his help to stop this dangerous project that would have far-reaching, negative regional impacts on property values, health, safety, and quality of life, as well as large-scale negative and destructive environmental impacts, we now know where Gov. Sununu stands and he is obviously in the pocket of the private waste industry.”
A two-thirds vote in both the state House and Senate is required to override a governor’s veto.