Saugerties Town Supervisor Fred Costello has signed a letter calling on the state to regulate and help fund the treatment of PFAS in leachate from closed landfills.

Leachate, sometimes called “garbage water,” is a toxic liquid created when rainwater filters through waste in landfills. It can carry PFAS and other contaminants into nearby streams, rivers, and groundwater through runoff and disposal.

PFAS, commonly called “forever chemicals,” are a group of human-made chemicals used in nonstick, water-repellent, and stain-resistant products. The chemicals break down slowly, and exposure to some types has been linked to health risks. Although some uses have been banned or phased out, PFAS remain prevalent in landfill leachate.

The letter, signed by Costello on Sept. 3, supports an effort by the advocacy groups Riverkeeper and New York River Watch to amend a proposed state Department of Environmental Conservation rule. The proposal would require certain active landfills to treat leachate for PFAS but would not apply the same requirements to closed landfills.

The town submitted its letter during a public comment period that ended Sept. 9.

More than 100 organizations and 700 individuals supported stronger regulations during the comment period, according to New York River Watch.

A department spokesperson said the agency will consider the town’s letter and all other comments, make any necessary changes to the final rule, and publish a formal response through its standard rulemaking process.

Costello said excluding closed landfills would leave the Saugerties Town Landfill without adequate treatment requirements or state funding for remediation.

“Our closed landfill’s leachate contains PFAS compounds, as do the closed landfills of many communities along the Hudson River,” the town’s letter said. “Thus, the apparent exemption for closed landfills is not comprehensible and, like Riverkeeper, we object to it.”

“We want to see all landfills that are collecting leachate are subject to these regulations,” said Dan Shapley, senior director of advocacy, policy, and planning at Riverkeeper.

Shapley said the proposed regulations would begin requiring appropriate treatment at active landfills, but excluding inactive and closed sites would leave a significant gap.

“We’re pressing the state,” said Rebecca Martin, co-founder and executive director of New York River Watch. “Right now, there isn’t anything that exists that regulates leachate treatment, not really.”

The Saugerties Town Landfill was designated a state Superfund site after testing detected PFAS in drinking-water wells serving nearby homes. Costello said the affected residents still rely on bottled water delivered regularly by the state, as they have since 2019.

The town collects about 30,000 gallons of leachate each day from the landfill and sends it to its wastewater treatment plant in Glasco, Costello said. Mixing the leachate with wastewater lowers the concentration of PFAS but does not remove the chemicals before the treated water is discharged into the Hudson River.

“This has been a common practice for a generation,” Shapley said. “The sewage treatment plant isn’t designed to remove PFAS. It isn’t designed to remove heavy metals. It isn’t designed to remove a number of other contaminants that can be found in leachate.”

Martin said treating PFAS can be complicated because some filtration processes can transform the chemicals rather than eliminate them.

“Some of these PFAS, when they filter PFAS, they actually transform into something else, a different kind of PFAS,” she said. “It’s, in other words, a pretty complicated problem.”

PFAS were detected in groundwater at 96% of inactive landfills sampled by the state, according to a 2026 New York River Watch report analyzing publicly available data.

Costello said the state must act with “more urgency” to find safe and effective ways to treat PFAS in leachate. Saugerties couldn’t afford to install the necessary treatment system without state assistance, he said.

“They’re going to have to be a partner,” Costello said. “‘Cause we’re a relatively large town, and that’s going to be beyond our means.”

Isabella Schoonover is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Woodstock, Saugerties, Hurley, and surrounding Ulster County communities. Send correspondence to isabella@theoverlooknews.com.