Hurley Town Board Hears Update on Landfill, and Other Town News
By Maya Schubert, Kingston Wire
Engineers hired to fix things at the long-closed Hurley town landfill
said a lot of progress has been made since the town got a violation
notice last year from the state Department of Environmental
Conservation.
Engineering and land surveying firm Crawford and Associates was hired
about a year ago following the January 2022 violation notice from the
DEC. The notice reported that, among other violations, the landfill
failed to maintain an overfill/prevention alarm system, which prevents
waste from depositing underground, and prevents leachate from escaping
the landfill.
In the past year, Crawford and Associates, along with town Deputy
Supervisor Peter Humphries, installed a new overfill prevention alarm
system.
“There's a communication system now between all the tanks, the pumps,
and the town based off of a text message system that will be provided
updates when there's a situation,” Crawford Senior Engineer Ryan
Loucks said.
They also cleared vegetation from around the landfill and
re-established berms and drainage swales to steer rainwater away from
the leachate system and prevent overflows. The surface leachate
collection system collects anything that rises from the ground through
a bedding of gravel, and a sump pump then siphons that into the main
system of the landfill.
The engineers said they have submitted a report to the DEC with their
work and findings and are currently waiting for input.
“They [the DEC] seem to be agreeable with everything that we’ve done
so far,” Loucks said.
The engineers and Humphries stressed that the landfill’s location and
environment make it ripe for disaster. Originally a rock quarry,
fractured bedrock makes the basin of the landfill essentially a
“bathtub with cracks in the bottom,” through which toxins and waste
can filter underground.
As part of New York State’s Inactive Landfill Initiative, in 2017 the
DEC took samples from the landfill that tested positive for
potentially dangerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS). In
2022, Crawford began installing new water monitoring wells and
collecting data from surface water, soil, and sediment to monitor
toxin levels. The engineers noted that they reviewed monitoring
records of the landfill, but found a gap in reports from 2013 to 2022,
matching the DEC’s notice last year claiming that the town had failed
to provide annual reports on the landfill since 2011.
Crawford and Associates suggested that the town board apply for
grants to conduct a remedial investigation into contamination levels
and feasibility study for the landfill.
In Other Hurley News:
Comprehensive Plan Workshop June 6
At Tuesday evening’s workshop meeting, the town board also discussed
the next steps for the town’s comprehensive plan. The draft, which was
released to the public on April 19, will be open for public discussion
at a workshop meeting on June 6. In addition, Town Supervisor Melinda
McKnight said the town planner is working on a survey for the public
on the draft.
Board Approves Funds for Highway Dept.
At an emergency meeting this week, the Hurley Town Board voted to
authorize the town highway department to make almost $500,000 worth of
general repairs.
On Wednesday, the board voted 4-0 to approve the town’s “284
Agreement,” which is in effect a contract between the board and the
highway department specifying what work will be done, and how much it
will cost. Council Member Michael Boms was absent.
The specifications for the spending are as follows: “General Repairs:
The sum of $435,000 shall be set aside to be expended for basic work
and general maintenance and repairs upon 52.16 miles of town highways,
including sluices, drainage ditches, culverts and bridges having a
span of less than five feet, tree and brush removal, board walks,
sidewalks that are the responsibility of the Town, emergency
activities as such are authorized by the Town Board, and other
activities involved with the care, upkeep and maintenance of highways
and bridges of the Town.”
Funding for paving projects will be considered at a later date, town
officials said.
Grievance Day is May 23
The Hurley Board of Assessment Review will hear property assessment
challenges starting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, (Grievance Day), at
Town Hall, 10 Wamsley Place.
Property owners wishing to challenge their assessments that day must
make an appointment in advance by calling the Town Assessor’s Office
at (845) 331-7474, ext. 4, or by emailing assessor@townofhurley.org.
Property owners who grieve their 2023 assessments will need to submit
a Grievance Application (Form RP-524) to the Town Assessor's Office by
May 22. The Grievance Application can be found online at
tinyurl.com/39edz84d. (Instructions for filling out the form are at
tinyurl.com/3e66hd58.)
Completed applications should be emailed to assessor@townofhurley.org
or mailed to Town Assessor's Office, P.O. Box 569, Hurley, NY 12443.
For more information, contact the assessor’s office at the above phone
number or email address.
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