Land of Gorges and Garbage

Remember the clever anti-Cornell take on the alma mater?

Far above Cayuga's waters
There's an awful smell
Some say it's Cayuga's waters
Some say it's Cornell

The Ithaca Journal reports that the awful smell might not be coming from Cornell, but rather from the garbage trucks rumbling through the region:

Up to 9,000 tons per day of garbage is trucked into the Seneca Meadows and Ontario county landfills, making the Finger Lakes region the state's number one destination for trash.

The Journal terms Tompkins County the "garbage capital of New York" and interviews one resident who claims that garbage trucks pass his house every three minutes.

Instead of taking the Thruway up to the landfill in Waterloo, many trucks originating downstate are cutting through Ithaca on Route 79.

A glimmer of hope appeared last year when Gov. David Paterson announced new regulations intended to force trash trucks to use interstates and the New York State Thruway. But the federal government said the regulations violated interstate commerce rules, and it was illegal for the state to single out trash trucks from other big-freight haulers.

Obviously, it's fastest for the trucks to cut through Ithaca, but the Journal notes that the garbage traffic makes accidents more likely, wears down local roads, and creates the potential for waste to spill into watershed areas.

In addition to prison industry, it seems that garbage has become another way for the struggling upstate economy to retain money and jobs.

(Ithaca Journal)