Seneca Lake Guardian is entering its 15th year with one of its founders preparing to spend more time on the environmental fights that helped turn the group from a local opposition campaign into a statewide advocacy force.
Nearly 100 community members gathered last week at Forge Cellars in Watkins Glen to mark the organization’s anniversary and recognize Vice President and Co-Founder Yvonne Taylor’s retirement from a nearly 30-year career in education, where she worked with at-risk youth as a speech-language therapist and educator.
The organization began in 2011 as Gas Free Seneca, formed to oppose a proposed gas storage and transport project in the Finger Lakes. After an eight-year fight, the group prevailed and later expanded its work beyond that single issue.
The organization changed its name to Seneca Lake Guardian in 2017 and has since focused on clean water, air quality, public health, climate policy and the regional economy. Its leaders say the group has played a role in several major environmental fights in New York, including opposition to garbage incinerators, fossil-fueled cryptomining power plants and data centers.
The anniversary event brought together neighbors, advocates, attorneys, scientists, business owners, elected leaders, Cornell University allies and other supporters who have worked with the organization over the last decade and a half.
“This anniversary isn’t just about our organization — it’s about all of the people who made this movement possible,” Taylor said. “For 15 years, neighbors, business owners, students, families, advocates, and local leaders have shown what can happen when a community comes together to protect clean air, water, and public health. Every success we’ve achieved belongs to all of them.”
Taylor co-founded the group with Joseph Campbell, who serves as president. Campbell credited Taylor with helping shape the organization from its earliest days while also maintaining a long career in education.
“For 15 years, Seneca Lake Guardian has been powered by people who care about and fight for the environment and communities that call the Finger Lakes home,” Campbell said. “Yvonne has been at the heart of that work from day one.”
Taylor, in turn, credited Campbell’s research, coordination and organizational work as central to the group’s success, saying his leadership helped position the organization for long-running fights against major industrial interests.
Several allied organizations also marked the milestone, including the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, Food & Water Watch, Earthjustice and New York River Watch. Representatives from those groups described Seneca Lake Guardian as a regional organization with statewide and national influence, citing its work on fracking, landfill pollution, cryptomining, PFAS contamination, leachate disposal and water protection.
Taylor’s retirement from education comes as Seneca Lake Guardian continues to focus on Seneca Meadows, the state’s largest landfill. The landfill was originally slated to close in 2025, but it continues to operate while state regulators review a proposed expansion that would add 47 acres, increase the landfill’s height and extend operations through at least 2040.
Seneca Lake Guardian has made the landfill expansion one of its central campaigns, arguing that it threatens public health, the environment and the Finger Lakes’ tourism and agriculture economy.
Taylor has also gained national recognition for her climate advocacy. In 2025, she was named to Grist’s Grist 50 list, which recognizes climate advocates and innovators across the country.
Taylor and Campbell also co-founded the National Coalition Against Cryptomining, which includes residents and advocates from 28 states. The coalition has pushed for stronger protections related to cryptomining and artificial intelligence data centers, citing concerns about energy and water use, electricity costs, noise, air pollution and environmental impacts.
Local businesses that supported the anniversary event included Forge Cellars, Van Noble Farms, Big D’s Limo, Dish Truck, Curry Creek Botanicals, Damiani Wine Cellars and the band Comb Down.
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