Environmental advocates' efforts to make changes to the way New York regulates solid waste came up short as the state Department of Environmental Conservation on Sept. 20 finalized regulations governing solid waste management that would allow the practice of using fracking waste in landfill and roadways to continue.

A coalition of groups—which include the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Earthjustice, Earthworks, Environmental Advocates of New York, Food & Water Watch, New York Public Interest Research Group and Riverkeeper Inc.—had sought to make changes to the final rules governing solid waste management to prevent waste from hydraulic fracturing in neighboring states from ending up in New York landfills, or from being used to deice roadways (NYLJ, June 12).

The coalition said in a statement that “nearly three years ago, Governor Cuomo announced a ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing because of the potential impacts to public health. It was a bold move. Unfortunately, in that time, fracking waste continued to be spread on roadways as a deicing agent and, since 2011, more than 600,000 tons of fracking waste from Pennsylvania drilling operations have made its way into our landfills.”