East Patchogue residents battle with officials over Brookhaven landfill upgrade plans

A vote is set for Thursday on a plan to address odor and space issues at the Brookhaven Town Landfill.
Residents in an East Patchogue neighborhood have made it no secret about how they feel about the Brookhaven Town Landfill. Nancy Dodge and several others want it shut down.
"It's a mountain. It's an eyesore and even beyond that it's a health hazard," says Dodge. "There's a school across the street, teachers have died, there's sick children."
Dodge and others are even more frustrated because they claim the town wants an additional $1.4 million to upgrade its landfill. As News 12 reported, the town is working on the final phases for the project to build a new section at the landfill, known as a cell, and implement an odor-control system. This comes after the town was cited by the state DEC for violating odor control rules.
Though the landfill is slated to close by 2024, residents say they've been told by town officials that there are no plans to shut it down.
"They're saying if we close the landfill, it's going to cost taxpayers money," says Dodge. "Why? There's been a huge profit margin for every year that it's been there. They shouldn't need anything else."
The town issued a statement saying, "Brookhaven Town is not expanding or increasing the capacity of our landfill, contrary to published news reports. The resolutions in question are amendments for spending on projects that have previously been approved and are already underway."
Neighbors aren't buying it.
"They can play with semantics all they want but we are not fools," says Caroline Wilkinson, of East Patchogue. "The community should know that this is a semantic twist. They're adding more stuff to the landfill."