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Fresh Air for the Eastside, Inc. v. New York
Fresh Air for the Eastside, Inc. v. State ↗
CA 23-00179N.Y. App. Div.6 entries
Filing Date
Type
Action Taken
Document
Summary
07/26/2024
Decision
State defendants' motion to dismiss granted and complaint dismissed in its entirety.
In a lawsuit asserting that operation of the second largest landfill in New York violated the State Constitution’s Environmental Rights Amendment, the New York Appellate Division reversed a trial court and granted New York State and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s motion to dismiss. A nonprofit corporation with members residing near the landfill alleged that odors and fugitive emissions (including greenhouse gas emissions) from the landfill violated their rights under the Environmental Rights Amendment. The Appellate Division found that the plaintiff failed to state a claim against the State defendants because the only conduct by the State defendants that allegedly violated the plaintiff’s constitutional rights was a failure to take enforcement actions against the operator based on the allegedly inadequate operation of the landfill. Because the decision whether to take enforcement action involved exercise of judgment or discretion, the remedy of mandamus was not available. The appellate court affirmed the dismissal of the Environmental Rights Amendment claims against the landfill’s private operator and against New York City, which sent waste to the landfill.
04/23/2024
Amicus Motion/Brief
Brief filed by amici curiae Green Amendments for the Generations and Delaware Riverkeeper Network in support of plaintiff-respondent-appellant and affirmance.
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Fresh Air for the Eastside, Inc. v. New York ↗
E2022000699N.Y. Sup. Ct.2 entries
Filing Date
Type
Action Taken
Document
Summary
12/07/2022
Decision
State's motion to dismiss denied, City's motion to dismiss granted, and Waste Management of New York, L.L.C.'s motion to dismiss granted.
A New York Supreme Court allowed a plaintiff to proceed with a claim against the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the State of New York under the year-old Green Amendment to the New York Constitution, which provides that “[e]ach person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.” The group alleged that DEC and the State violated their constitutionally protected rights by authorizing and permitting activities at a landfill that result in odors and fugitive emissions, including greenhouse gas emissions, and by failing to adequately use the State’s enforcement powers to control odors and fugitive emissions. The court dismissed the Green Amendment claim against the landfill’s operator, concluding that the Green Amendment did not authorize claims against private entities. The court also dismissed the Green Amendment claim against New York City, whose waste allegedly represents 90% of the waste disposed at the landfill. The court found that the City was “merely a customer” of the landfill whose garbage would be replaced by the garbage of another customer. The court also found that the City had no duty under the Green Amendment to police the landfill’s compliance with permits or to abate operational problems.
01/28/2022
Complaint
Complaint filed.
A local environmental group filed a lawsuit alleging that the operation of the High Acres Landfill in the Towns of Perinton and Macedon violated the group’s members’ rights to clean air and a healthy environment under the New York Constitution’s new “Green Amendment” or “Environmental Rights Amendment,” which states that “[e]ach person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.” The defendants are New York State, DEC, New York City (which sends waste to the landfill), and Waste Management of New York, L.L.C. The plaintiff’s cause of action was grounded in part in allegations regarding the landfill’s greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on climate change. The complaint alleged that methane emitted from the landfill was estimated to be “the equivalent to the GHG emissions from 3,267,425,411 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle, or 146,293,092 gallons of gasoline consumed, or 1,436,986,484 pounds of coal burned.” The complaint also alleged that many methane leaks were not being identified or repaired and that “numerous undocumented GHGs are being emitted to the atmosphere and contribute to the Member’s and Community’s unclean air and unhealthful environment.” The plaintiff asked the New York Supreme Court to issue an injunction directing the immediate closure of the landfill or, alternatively, to order the defendants to immediately abate the odors and fugitive emissions in the committee through installation of a permanent cover and daily monitoring. The plaintiff also contended that the landfill current operation “runs counter to the GHG emission reduction goals in the CLCPA.”