Hudson Falls Waste Incinerator to Close in Wake of Local Clean Air Law

Village of Hudson Falls, NY – August 5, 2026 – The WIN Waste corporation, formerly known as Wheelabrator, has announced that it will close their Hudson Falls trash and industrial waste incinerator before the end of 2026. This waste incinerator, located on the Hudson River, in a residential neighborhood, has been burning up to 500 tons of trash and other types of waste daily since 1991.

This state-permitted facility burns a changing mixture of trash, sewage sludge, industrial waste, pharmaceuticals and tires. These wastes come from 26 New York Counties, as well as seven other states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia) and Canada.

This facility is one of ten trash incinerators in New York, which has more than any other state. The Hudson Falls incinerator produces less than 0.05% (less than 5/100 of 1%) of the state’s electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The decision to close the plant comes shortly before the August 20th deadline for WIN Waste to file suit to challenge the Hudson Falls Clean Air Law, which was passed unanimously by the Hudson Falls village board on April 20. That law was enacted as a result of an outpouring of concern by local residents, who attended every village board meeting starting in late 2024. They have been fed up for years with the air pollution coming from the incinerator and related health conditions and quality of life issues plaguing their neighborhoods.

Another disposal option for municipal solid waste exists at the Green Ridge landfill in Gansevoort in Saratoga County.

The local clean air law, which is the most protective such law in the nation, requires waste incinerators in the village to install continuous emissions monitoring for 19 harmful air pollutants and post the monitoring data on a publicly accessible website in real time. It also requires the plant to upgrade its air pollution controls to meet modern standards for new incinerators.

“This local law ensures that people have a right to know how much harmful pollution they are actually breathing,” said Mike Ewall, executive director of Energy Justice Network, who authored the Hudson Falls Clean Air Law and visited Hudson Falls last year to present on the hazards of incineration to the community in support of Breathe Free Hudson Falls and Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls, in their campaign to protect the community from the aging incinerator.

Tracy Frisch, the founder and chair of Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls (CAAN), commended the mayor and village board for taking action in response to residents’ concerns. “Local governments need to step up when the federal and state governments are not doing their jobs to protect communities,” she said. “The incinerator has operated for nearly 35 years with inadequate emissions controls.”

“I live just 570 feet from the smokestack and have lost several nearby family members and neighbors to cancer – most recently my mother in 2024,” said Rosemary Madonna of Breathe Free Hudson Falls. “We’ve had to deal with routine fires, smoke events, and noise that sounds like airplanes hovering over my house at four in the morning. No residential neighborhood should have to endure this.”

New federal regulations for large trash incinerators have been overdue since 2011. A federal lawsuit forced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update these standards. Biden’s EPA proposed draft regulations in 2024 that were the weakest of three options they were considering. When Trump's EPA came out with final regulations in March 2026, they were far weaker than the Biden EPA’s proposal.

The 2024 draft federal regulations under Biden's EPA would have made the incinerator reduce cadmium emissions by 71% and nitrogen oxides by 33%. The 2026 final Trump EPA regulations will make it only have to reduce hydrochloric acid by 16% and these regulations would not take effect until 2031. “Despite the company’s claims, there’s no way they are closing now because of a minor reduction in one pollutant that isn’t required for another five years,” said Ewall. “It’s clearly due to the local Clean Air Law.”

The Hudson Falls Clean Air Law goes much further in protecting local air quality. Under this law, the incinerator would have to reduce cadmium by 79%, lead by 72%, mercury by 25%, dioxins/furans by 38%, hydrochloric acid by 35%, nitrogen oxides by 70%, and carbon monoxide by 36%.

Currently, under the state air permit, the WIN Waste Hudson Falls waste incinerator must only continuously monitor three pollutants: carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. Six other pollutants must be tested annually (dioxins, hydrochloric acid, cadmium, lead, mercury, and particulate matter) and 18 others must be tested once every five years. The Clean Air Law would make these all continuously monitored.

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