A resolution that would formally oppose the proposed construction of a landfill in Wawarsing was rejected by the Energy, Environment and Sustainability Committee was rejected in a 5-2 vote. Shawangunk’s Richard Walls and Esopus’ Herbert Litts – the only two Republicans on the committee – voted to approve, but the committee’s five Democrats were united in opposition.

Last June, the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (UCRRA) announced that a study by Cornerstone Engineering had produced just two usable locations for a 100-acre countywide landfill. There is a degree of urgency to this search because the current site where the county’s trash is taken, Seneca Meadows in the Finger Lakes, will close within a decade. UCRRA boss Marc Rider has said often that opening a new landfill will take at least that long.

The resolution was proposed by Craig Lopez, the Wawarsing representative to the county legislature. The bill, which is similar to one passed in the Sullivan County Legislature, objects to the placement because of concerns over traffic and environmental justice, and potential environmental impacts because “the proposed sites are in close proximity to areas of natural beauty and ecological significance.”

It’s also similar to an Ulster County resolution that passed successfully, which opposed development of a landfill in Plattekill for reasons of environmental justice. That Wawarsing, which checks many of the same boxes for environmental justice, has been denied this protection could suggest a change in thinking at the county legislature.

There seems to be a skepticism among even those who killed the resolution that anything would be approved in Wawarsing. Manna Jo Green, a longtime environmental champion who voted no on the resolution, said that she thought it was “probably not a good site” for a landfill, but what was important was not over-steering UCRRA, and allowing the agency to do their work. That line of argument was echoed by others in discussion.

UCRRA remains adamant that there are only two viable sites in the county for a landfill and both lie in Wawarsing. But, for now, they have retreated from the plan, emphasing instead a Resource Innovation Center, which has the potential to reduce the county’s waste stream by as much as 25 percent. After a request for proposals for a landfill received only one response, UCRRA pulled it and issued a request for proposals for alternatives to a landfill.

Poppy Cannon-Reese, who has been leading opposition, noted that the UCRRA has moved its focus now to developing the Resource Innovation Center. “We will regroup, continue to research alternatives to this landfill idea, and monitor the legislature’s next steps,” she said.

Meanwhile, Legislator Lopez will revise the resolution and present it again in April.