CARROLL, N.Y. — After more than a decade of back-and-forth litigation, residents in the town of Carroll thought the fight to stop the expansion of this landfill on Dodge Road was over.

The town fought a proposed plan that would have sold the landfill, owned by Jones-Carroll Inc., to Sealand Waste, which had intentions to triple the landfill's size. 

"The company interested in buying it all along has taken the reigns of the legal fight and is trying to reopen the court case," said Carroll Concerned Citizens spokesperson Polly Hanson.

Sealand is in the process of suing its way into the dormant lawsuit pursued by Jones-Carroll.

In 2015, the state court of appeals ruled in favor of the town and upheld a zoning law preventing construction or expansion of landfills.

If Sealand is allowed to go forward, it will challenge a separate town Waste Disposal Law that passed in 2007.

"Our stance is it is illegal to have a landfill in the town of Carroll. We have a town law that's stood up in court," said Carroll Town Supervisor Jack Jones. 

Sealand filed permit applications with the Department of Environmental Conservation in case the project is allowed to go forward.

Wednesday night residents gathered to prepare letters they plan to send to the DEC pointing out the negative environmental impacts of the project.

"You cannot replace clean water, you cannot replace clean air, you cannot replace quality of life," said Hanson. 

Sealand hired Daigler Engineering to prepare the DEC proposals.

Its owner says if Sealand is not allowed to expand the landfill either it or Jones-Carroll will sue the town for the loss of revenue for the project.

"If the town wants to write a law saying you can't do it, that's a taking, and they need to compensate Sealand. At least $23 million. That's what Sealand would earn, that's the value of the project to them," said Daigler Engineering owner Jim Daigler. 

"That's political...I'll say B.S. on their part. No, they're not going to sue the town. I don't think that's even possible at this point in time," said Jones. 

The town expects a ruling on whether Sealand can proceed with its lawsuit as early as December 22nd.