The facility burns garbage from the 22 municipalities of Essex County and from New York City's Manhattan Community Board Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12.

Bright pink and purple fumes were often seen spewing from the facility but Covanta blamed a local hospital for improperly disposed medical waste.

In summer 2019, ICC partnered with Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest organization that litigates to protect the environment, and the Environmental Advocacy Clinic at Vermont Law School to take on Covanta by urging state officials to investigate.

Covanta has been found many hundreds of times to exceed air pollution limits or to fail to abide by required safety regulations.

Covanta eventually acknowledged that the fumes were produced by its burning of pesticides improperly disposed and agreed to new waste management procedures.