Joe Fusco, vice president of Casella Waste Systems Inc., says the company is “committed to fighting” legislation that would prevent it from opening a landfill in Dalton.

The NH Legislature has passed a number of bills relating to landfills, and one piece of pending legislation, House Bill 1454, would establish setbacks that the Dalton site could not meet.

However, it is unclear whether the legislation, if passed, would apply to an existing application.

North Country residents who oppose the Dalton landfill say there is enough landfill capacity in the state to handle New Hampshire’s waste, but out-of-state trash is diminishing that capacity. Private companies are prevented by the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution from refusing solid waste from other states, but that provision does not apply to state and municipal entities.

The Mount Carberry landfill in Success is operated as regional solid waste facility by local communities, so is not bound by the Interstate Commerce Clause. An expansion of that facility is pending before the state Department of Environmental Services.

Fusco told InDepthNH that accepting outof-state waste helps to keep New Hampshire’s solid waste costs down, but beyond that, he sees solid waste as a regional issue that does not conform to state boundaries.