James A. Mcquade, Section Chief

[Name] [Street Address] [City, State, Zip] [Date]

James A. McQuade, Section Chief MassDEP Central Region Office 8 New Bond Rd Worcester, MA 01606

RE:Site Suitability Report Number 278-007-A

Dear Mr. McQuade:

Please accept this correspondence as our formal comments regarding Site Suitability Report Number 278-007-A and the proposed expansions of the Southbridge Landfill operated by the proponent, Casella Waste Systems (“Casella”).

The MassDEP issued a Negative Determination of Site Suitability to expand the Southbridge Landfill onto adjacent parcels of land (Phase 2.10). Casella Waste requested that the MassDEP reconsider the Negative Determination of Site Suitability.

I am writing to the MassDEP today to ask that you issue a Negative determination to Casella Waste’s request for an appeal of Site Suitability once again. Casella Waste should not be allowed to expand the Landfill in any capacity, because not only is the existing landfill leaking contaminants into the groundwater and surface water, but all Subtitle D landfills leak within approximately 25 years. Therefore, landfills in general are always a danger to public health, safety and the environment. Decades of monitoring well reports from the landfill clearly show this landfill already is.

Furthermore, nothing in Casella’s request for reconsideration or the documents supporting it contradicted the main reason the MassDEP denied the Determination of Site Suitability in the first place – Casella cannot prove that expanding the Landfill will not pose a threat to public health, safety or the environment. The Southbridge Landfill is the only potential source of the well contamination in Charlton, and the groundwater monitoring wells around the Landfill indicate that contamination is also moving to the east, south and north of the Landfill. Expanding the landfill will clearly impede assessment or clean-up of the site as the expansion includes dumping new waste on top of old unlined leaking cells.

Sincerely,

[Names]