Kearny residents and officials were met with blank stares and few comments Thursday at the first New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority meeting since a judge ordered the town’s landfill permanently closed.

On the day of the court decision, Mayor Al Santos said his town was not giving up its fight against the site until the NJSEA promised to put a cap over the Keegan Landfill, which has emitted hydrogen sulfide at levels often above the state standard for more than a year. He kept to his word Thursday, sitting in the front row, surrounded by Kearny residents wearing red baseball caps that read “Cap It” and holding images of the landfill.

It is the NJSEA’s refusal to provide maximum protection to Kearny residents that is the most frustrating, many speakers said.

“I’ve been at this meeting month after month after month and the more I come here the more scared I am,” said Christina Montague.

Hudson County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Jablonski’s Sept. 30 decision to permanently close Keegan Landfill came as a victory for Kearny, which had sued the state agency that oversees it earlier this year.

Hydrogen sulfide emissions are not only unpleasant smelling, but can cause nausea, headaches, dizziness, confusion and irritation to the eyes, nose and throat.

NJSEA President Vincent Prieto, the former Assembly Speaker, declined to say whether his agency plans to appeal the judge’s decision, citing “pending litigation.”

A refusal to comment, along with the refrain of “due to pending litigation,” was an oft-repeated answer to almost all questions regarding the landfill. At one point, attendees began shouting at the NJSEA board members, “What litigation?” and “There is no litigation!”

A woman in the audience held a sign toward the board of commissioners reading “When truths are replaced by silence, the silence is a lie.”

Resident Michael Fernandez said some of his children were among those who had to evacuate Harvey Field Sept. 16 due to high hydrogen sulfide readings.

“Please don’t appeal,” he said. “Please let it be closed.”

Keegan Landfill’s Certificate of Authority will expire Nov. 14, and if left to expire, Keegan Landfill would no longer be eligible to operate, even if the court had not closed it, Jablonski wrote in his decision.

The NJSEA does not currently have an application to renew the certificate, said Adam Levy, NJSEA vice president of legal and regulatory affairs.

The NJSEA turned on a new gas collection and control system Sept. 5, and flares in the system recently burned the wings and tails off two hawks.

Since the incidents, the NJSEA has taken several initiatives to protect wildlife, said the authority’s Director of Natural Resources Management Terry Doss. Staff removed vegetation that was within 100 yards of the flares, placed deterrents in the landfill, including plastic coyotes and bird spikes, and created a berm and 16-foot fence at the top of a slope to encourage birds to fly up and around the flares, she said.

Kearny Councilwoman Carol Jean Doyle said she was impressed by how quickly the NJSEA took action to protect more birds from getting injured.

“I wish I could have that same confident feeling when I think about the residents and the children in the town of Kearny,” she told the commissioners.