What to Know
- A judge ruled to shut down the foul smelling landfill that has been plaguing people's noses in a NJ town
- Hudson County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Jablonski says that the 110-acre landfill in Kearny presents a "clear and immediate danger"
- It wasn't immediately clear whether the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority will appeal the ruling
Residents in a New Jersey town may soon be able to breathe easy again after a judge ruled to permanently shut down the foul smelling landfill that has been plaguing people's noses.
Hudson County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Jablonski says that the 110-acre landfill in Kearny, which has high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas, must close permanently because it presents a "clear and immediate danger" to those who live nearby, NJ.com first reported.
The cause of the smell had been linked to sheet rock as it breaks down underground. Massive gas collection wells are set to be built underground in an effort to capture the hydrogen sulfide gas that’s been driving residents literally indoors for over a year.
New Jersey’s Supreme Court previously shut down the construction waste landfill in mid-June.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, the owner and operator of the landfill, will appeal the ruling, NJ.com reported.
A new gas collection system was installed at the state-owned landfill early September and NJSEA said the smells at the landfill that first opened in the 1950s should be gone — for good — in a matter of weeks but that remains to be seen.