January 2026 Positive Change Recipient – Seneca Lake Guardian

A Note from GreenStar: Seneca Lake Guardian was selected by GreenStar members to be among our twelve 2026 Partners for Change. Please Round Up your purchase at the Co-op to support their work!  

My name is Yvonne Taylor, and I was born and raised in the Finger Lakes. I’m a lifelong resident, a teacher, and environmental advocate for a region that is part of who I am. And it’s everything that drives my work with Seneca Lake Guardian.

Seneca Lake Guardian began as a small, grassroots effort here in the Finger Lakes. Over time, we’ve grown into a nationally-recognized environmental organization and Waterkeeper Affiliate that collaborates with scientists, legal experts, Indigenous leaders, farmers, local businesses, and concerned residents. Whether it’s fracking, data centers, cryptomining, or landfills, Seneca Lake Guardian has built a reputation for standing up to powerful interests and protecting our environment, public health, and local economy.

Today, we’re focused on several important fights, including ongoing battles against the Greenidge gas plant turned crypto mine and the TeraWulf Data Center on Cayuga Lake.  But one of the most consequential environmental fights in New York State is our campaign to stop the expansion of the Seneca Meadows (SMI), New York’s largest landfill.

SMI accepts 6,000 tons of waste every single day, much of it trucked in from New York City and other parts of the state. As that trash breaks down, the landfill produces up to 200,000 gallons of polluted leachate every day, filled with chemicals like PFAS — “forever chemicals” linked to cancer and immune system harm. That leachate is hauled off to wastewater treatment plants across the state that are not designed to filter out these toxic compounds, sending contamination downstream into major waterways.

Those striking numbers translate to real harm for those living here. Seneca Falls is already a known cancer cluster, with lung cancer rates 30-35% higher than other communities. Seneca County has one of the highest rates of premature death in the state, and surrounding neighborhoods see increased COPD emergency visits, low birth weight deliveries, and higher disability rates. Families living near Seneca Meadows even report declining property values, noise from truck traffic, and odors so bad they’ve had to pull their kids out of school to avoid it.

The landfill is also the state’s largest single point source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas more than 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide. At a time when New York State has committed to ambitious climate goals, expanding a methane-emitting landfill threatens progress and contradicts the state’s own waste-reduction plans.

Closing Seneca Meadows on schedule is not only possible, but necessary — and statewide data shows that its expansion is not necessary while the state moves toward more sustainable solutions.

The Finger Lakes — with its $4 billion wine and agritourism economy, rich agricultural soils, and growing reputation as a world-class destination — should not be home to the state’s tallest mountain of garbage. Instead, I believe in a future where we can build a zero-waste, circular economy, one that reduces our waste generation and therefore our reliance on these toxic, polluting landfills altogether.

To learn more or get involved, visit senecalakeguardian.org.