Dive Brief:

• The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a 2013 court decision rescinding the state’s control of the Fenimore landfill, stands.
• The initial appeals court ruling was made in November.
• The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) must now show there was an environmental emergency on June 26, 2013. The state took control of the site less than an hour after legislation was signed permitting the takeover of landfills with specific conditions.

Dive Insight:

Strategic Environmental Partners reopened the landfill in 2011, after it had been shuttered since 1979. The company had plans to install a solar operation on the property. 

"There was no evidence that SEP violated (the Legacy Landfill Act) when the statute was actually in effect," the appeals court said in November, according to NJ.com. "Accordingly, using violations against SEP that occurred before the statute became effective required unlawful retroactive application." 

In late 2012, the public began complaining about foul odors emitting from the site. If the DEP is able to confirm complaint about the smell, the agency can necessitate the landfill owner to make moves to deal the odor.