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Lawsuit against Steuben County town’s ban on ‘sewage sludge’ dropped

Thurston Town Hall in Steuben County.
Natalie Abruzzo
/
WSKG News
Thurston Town Hall in Steuben County.

A lawsuit filed against the town of Thurston in Steuben County was recently discontinued. The litigation challenged the town’s ban on landspreading, which uses sewage sludge as fertilizer.

The lawsuit claimed Thurston’s ban on sewage sludge impedes business operations for several waste management companies.

Town of Thurston Resident, Reginald Rice addressed a packed room during a public hearing at the town’s board meeting where Steuben County residents from the towns of Thurston, Cameron and Bath awaited the board’s vote to ban the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer.
Natalie Abruzzo
/
WSKG News
Thurston resident Reginald Rice addressed a packed room during a public hearing at the town’s board meeting, where Steuben County residents from the towns of Thurston, Cameron and Bath awaited the board’s vote to ban the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer.

It was filed by New England Waste Services of Maine, Leo Dickson and Sons, Dickson’s Environmental Services and Dickson Land Holdings LLC.

In March, all parties entered into what is called a tolling agreement.

This type of agreement means that the clock is stopped on pending litigation to pause the statute of limitations.

“This lawsuit is over, but nothing in this agreement means there will never be another challenge to the law again,“ said Alexis Andiman, senior attorney with the sustainable food and farming program at Earthjustice, who represented the town of Thurston in the lawsuit.

WSKG reached out to all parties involved in the petition and heard back from Casella Waste Systems, a subsidiary of New England Waste Services of Maine, which operates in Steuben County.

Leo Dickson and Sons in the town of Bath.
Natalie Abruzzo
/
WSKG News
Leo Dickson and Sons in the town of Bath.

Casella bought the landspreading operation, Bonny Hill Organics, from Leo Dickson and Sons in 2022. Casella also leases thousands of additional acres from them for landspreading purposes.

In an email, a company spokesperson said: “New England Waste Services of Maine, Inc. entered into a Tolling Agreement with the Town of Thurston to postpone the litigation until later this year to allow the administrative process before the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets to be completed. Several of the issues in the litigation depend upon the outcome of that administrative process.”

The lawsuit stated Thurston was in violation of several state and local policies.

The tolling agreement between the parties is in effect until Aug. 15, 2024.

After that date, a new lawsuit could be filed against the town of Thurston. However, it is not clear when or if this will happen.

Thurston is the only town to ban the practice of landspreading in Steuben County through a local law ordinance.