Residents for Responsible Government, Inc.
UPDATE: WE HAVE WON! The Towns of Lewiston and Porter are no longer the national dumping ground for toxic waste. We are saved from 6 million tons of toxic waste and approximately 500,000 trucks laden with toxins rumbling past our schools and homes.
We have been fighting Chemical Waste Services, LLC.(CWM) and its parent Waste Management, Inc., a $25 billion company for the past twenty-five years. It was a David v. Goliath fight. Thanks to the steadfast support of the residents in Lewiston and Porter, we have slain the dragon. We have demonstrated through nationally recognized expert witnesses that the license application should be denied. CWM needed approval of both the NYS Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Board AND the DEC. Both have denied CWM’s application for a new hazardous waste application. CWM had until February 2, 2026, to appeal this denial. THEY DID NOT APPEAL.
SITING BOARD DENIAL:
The New York State Hazardous WasteFacility Siting Board unanimously decided to deny the application from CWM Chemical Services for a Certificate of Environmental Safety and Public Necessity to construct the proposed RMU-2 hazardous waste landfill in Porter and Lewiston, Niagara County. The 53-page decision was issued September 29, 2025. The Facility Siting Board denied the project, concluding that it did not meet state siting criteria and was not in the public interest. After a multi-decade process involving extensive testimony, hearings, evidence, public input, and analysis, the Board determined that CWM had not met its burden of proof. View entire decision of the Siting Board here.
DEC DENIAL
ALJ O’Connell’s April 16, 2025, Hearing Report and Recommended Decision, to the extent consistent with this Decision, is hereby adopted. Except as granted herein, all exceptions to the ALJ’s Hearing Report and Recommended Decision are overruled. To the extent that any other issues have been raised that are subject to the Department’s jurisdiction, these have been considered and are found to be lacking in merit, are dismissed, or otherwise rendered moot.
Based on the foregoing, CWM’s Environmental Permit Applications to the Department are denied without prejudice. Specifically, CWM’s SPDES permit modification application, WQC application, FWW permit application, ASF permit modification application, and RCRA TSDF permit modification application are denied without prejudice. CWM is directed to consult with Department staff on the proper next steps, if any, regarding any existing permits, including the SPDES, ASF, and TSDF permits, in order to continue current operations at the Facility.
Signed by Randall Young, NYSDEC Region 6 View the entire decision here.
HISTORY
From 1972 to 2015, Niagara County, New York, hosted one of the largest PCB and toxic waste landfill operations in the U.S. The CWM landfill was forced to close in 2015, a testament to the power of community support and efforts. CWM has applied for a massive new 6-million-ton PCB and toxic-waste landfill, referred to as RMU-2, which state and federal agencies have concluded is not needed.
RMU-1 closed in 2015, over ten years ago, so there is definitely not a local need for another toxic landfill.
The 710-acre proposed site is owned by CWM Chemical Services, LLC, a Waste Management, Inc. subsidiary, a $93.5 billion corporation. CWM is located in the Towns of Lewiston and Porter, NY, one mile from Lewiston-Porter Central Schools and roughly three miles from the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. There are 17 commercial hazardous waste landfills in the U.S., which supervising agencies deem adequate to handle the nation’s needs for decades to come without CWM.
If approved, the CWM proposal would send more than a half-million PCB—and toxic waste-laden trucks past the front of our public schools for decades, posing a significant threat to our health and environment. In 2003, CWM predicted its application would be approved by 2005; however, the application in 2024 is only now entering the final phase of decision-making.
CWM’s landfill has been closed for nine years
but is still fighting to open a new toxic landfill.
CWM’s application is now nearing final decision-making by the New York State Hazardous Waste Siting Board and the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner-designee. Both approvals are required for the application to be approved.
Final briefs are due soon from CWM and the “intervenors” approved by the State. These intervenors include counsel for Niagara County, the Town of Lewiston, the Village of Lewiston, and the Village of Youngstown; counsel for the Lewiston-Porter School District, the Niagara County Farm Bureau and RRG; Tuscarora Nation counsel, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper counsel, and resident Amy Witryol. They play a crucial role in representing the interests of the community in the decision-making process.
Numerous conferences, motions, and sworn testimony have been offered on issues such as groundwater, soil contaminated with radiation, air pollution, truck traffic noise, and adverse impacts on real estate and economic development, including marketing farm products.
Intervenors, including RRG, will submit final arguments on these topics over the next several months.
Your support is crucial in this fight. You can help RRG defray the cost of experts to assist with final arguments. We have been toxic-free for 9 years now; let’s finish the job! Click on the link below to contribute and be a part of this important cause.
Now more than ever, we must ensure our community is not saddled with another toxic landfill. The potential risks to our environment, health, and economy are too great. We need to act now to save our environment and our community.
NOTE: If you are having trouble finding us on Facebook it is because we had to disbale it once we discovered that the account had been corrupted.
Our work is almost done, but we still need you.
Help RRG fund its representation to end PCB and toxic waste landfilling here, forever! Our expert witnesses were worth every dollar. Help us defray our financial commitments. Use the link for online donations or the address below to mail checks. Thank you for your support.
DONATE: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=C79XHXXUXTYR2&source=url
About RRG
RRG is an all-volunteer not-for-profit organization formed in 2002 in response to a 3-to-2 approval by Porter Town Board members to re-zone land for the commercial landfilling of PCBs and hazardous wastes imported from throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. RRG is dedicated to informing and empowering residents in the Towns of Porter and Lewiston and Niagara County, NY.
Contact Us:
Residents for Responsible Government, Inc.
P.O. Box 262
Youngstown, NY 14174
You can email us using the form below.