By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
BETHLEHEM – Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems has notified the town of Bethlehem and the federal government that it will close its subsidiary North Country Environmental Services facility a year earlier than expected.
It announced Thursday in Casella’s Form 8-K filing to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission and in a letter to Bethlehem residents that Dec. 31, 2026, will be the final day it accepts municipal solid waste in Bethlehem.
“This provides certainty around a closure timeframe we have been discussing with the Town, our customers, and the local community as we evaluate remaining permitted airspace, current and projected fill rates, and other operational factors,” wrote Jeff Weld, vice president of communications for Casella.
On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CloseTheNCESLandfill/ Close The NCES Landfill site, there was a cause for a “Bye Bye Bad Neighbor” celebration.
But there was also concern that the facility on Trudeau Road will continue to leach out waste for the next 30 years.
The company said the decision came with issues on what and where more than 200 New Hampshire communities will do with their waste.
“When NCES closes, that waste does not disappear, it will compete for increasingly limited disposal capacity elsewhere. Those capacity constraints continue to create ripple effects across the Northeast, including longer transportation distances and increased costs,” Weld wrote.
“As part of our normal planning process, we have been evaluating alternatives for the waste currently managed at NCES. We have near-term solutions available through our transfer and disposal network, as well as third-party disposal sites, and will work closely with our customers to manage this transition and maintain continuity of service,” Weld wrote.
NCES has the physical ability to expand and continue providing needed capacity, but doing so would require a change in local zoning that has not yet occurred. “Without that change, we must plan around the permitted capacity available today while continuing to explore responsible long-term solutions for our customers and the region.”
Earlier this year, the state announced it came to an agreement with North Country Environmental Services in which they will pay $1.9 million in civil penalties for violations at the Bethlehem facility.
Watch dog neighbors have been complaining about the facility for years.
In its filing with the SEC on Oct. 1, Casella Waste Systems, Inc. said it “announced to customers, regulators and the host community of the North Country Environmental Services landfill located in Bethlehem, New Hampshire (the ‘NCES Landfill’) that December 31, 2026 will be the final day that the NCES Landfill accepts municipal solid waste for disposal (the “Closure Date”).”
The company had previously reported its expectation that the NCES Landfill would stop accepting waste by the end of 2027, but the company subsequently modified the timing after an evaluation of the remaining permitted airspace, current and projected fill rates, and other operational factors.
“The modified timing of the closure date will result in a higher level of landfill amortization expense in the fourth quarter of 2026 than previously anticipated, but such expense is not anticipated to have a material impact on the Company’s financial results for the fourth quarter of 2026 and the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026.”
It was signed by Bradford J. Helgeson, Casella’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.