Could the High Acres landfill in Perinton - and soon enough Macedon - someday be the last licensed landfill operating in New York State? Environmental attorney and town resident Linda Shaw thinks so, though hers is likely an extreme scenario.

During a Perinton Planning Board meeting last night where the board unanimously approved a site plan for a 5.8-acre expansion of the landfill, Shaw presented her case.

Using Department of Environmental Conservation data from 2006, she explained that High Acres, operated by Waste Management, has the highest potential capacity of any landfill in the state, 44.3 million tons, although only 11.5 million tons are currently permitted. That figure will change now that Perinton and Macedon have both approved the expansion - the Perinton Town Board will vote on a related wetlands mitigation plan next week. The landfill is located along the border of the two towns.

There are just over 25 operating landfills in the state, Shaw said. And less than 10 are seeking permits to expand. On top of that, the DEC tends to favor expanding existing landfills as opposed to opening new ones. Shaw is concerned that as the landfills are filled and eventually closed down, more and more material will be brought to the High Acres landfill.

"If that doesn't persuade you from not approving this at this time, I don't know what will," she said.

Without the expansion, the High Acres site has a life expectancy of about 10 years, said Jeff Richardson, Waste Management's district director. The Perinton expansion will add another four or five years, he said. And it will mean another $10 million in revenue for the town.

Last year, Waste Management withdrew from Perinton's consideration the most controversial part of its original High Acres expansion plan. That was a proposed height increase that would extend the landfill's life expectancy from 10 to 40 years. But the company left those plans in the DEC application, so it can ask the town to approve that at any time.

"The town has a responsibility, I think, to have a master plan: a long-range, true master plan, for the landfill," said Ken Jentzen, president of Preserve Scenic Perinton Alliance, a citizens group that opposed the expansion.