Hurley Landfill/Leachate Control Systems Update
Landfill problems that took decades to identify and address may be coming to a resolution with long-term solutions apparently in place for leachate control systems.
Supervisor Melinda McKnight provided the update Wednesday. She said engineers suggested in a March 15 memo that the state Department of Environmental Conservation be contacted about wrapping up work that began after a violation notice was issued 14 months ago.
“We are in the final stages of wrapping this up,” she said. “It’s clear that there are some minor adjustments to the system that need to be made.”
Over the past year, about $150,000 has been spent on engineering and equipment to fix problems that officials believe may have always existed with the Dug Hill Road landfill.
In the March 15 memo, engineers recommended providing the state with plans to raise the pump as part of plans to put a permanent cover over the leachate collection area.
Violations listed (in the NYS DEC letter to the town in Jan ‘22) included:
* Having leachate escaping the landfill from two vent pipes used for an underground storage tank and from a supplemental leachate collection system.
* Failing to prevent “waste from being deposited in or entering surface waters or groundwater.”
* Not operating the closed landfill so that production of leachate was minimized and not having a state pollutant discharge elimination system permit.
* Failing to maintain an overfill protection system and not turning on an operational alarm system and not having other sensors, gauges, or automatic shut offs that would have warned of problems.
