Published: August 28, 2008 11:59 pm      

TOWN OF TONAWANDA: More tests at landfill in 2009

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will conduct additional soil tests in the vicinity of the Town of Tonawanda landfill, which borders homes in a City of Tonawanda neighborhood and is contaminated with low-level radioactive waste.

But those samples won’t be taken until next spring or summer, meaning the Army Corps’ record of decision — its final say on whether the site needs to be cleaned up or if the town can resume work toward capping it — will be further delayed.

“It’s like a dog chasing its tail,” City of Tonawanda Mayor Ron Pilozzi said after the latest round of talks between the Coalition Against Nuclear Materials in Tonawanda (CANiT) — a group comprised of city and town officials, plus local, state and federal elected representatives — and the Army Corps Buffalo District.

Earlier this week, the two sides met in the Town of Tonawanda to discuss the town-owned landfill, which contains some radium, thorium and uranium contamination in a portion that has been designated under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). FUSRAP is charged with investigating and cleaning up sites involved with the federal government’s early nuclear weapons efforts.

Last year, the Army Corps said the radioactive waste levels are low enough that the contaminated soil can remain safely in place and, therefore, issued a proposed plan that recommended a “no action” approach to site remediation, which prompted city officials to demand further tests before the Army Corps issued its record of decision.

“We’re conducting additional sampling to help address some of the comments we received on the proposed plan in order to better confirm the extent of the FUSRAP material in the landfill,” said Steve Buechi, the Army Corps’ project manager for the town landfill.

The Army Corps decided to split the landfill area into two separate operable units — the landfill itself and the area just south of it known as the “Mud Flats.”

That means that the agency will need to issue a record of decision on each site. Buechi said the Army Corps is proceeding with issuing a record of decision on the landfill operable unit sometime this fall.

The Mud Flats decision also was expected to come sometime this year. But, because of the additional testing to be done on the FUSRAP area, that will be postponed.

“We’re probably looking at another three to five years before a record of decision is put out,” Fourth Ward Councilman Rick Davis said.

After the Army Corps takes new samples next year, it will combine the new test results with previous samples and incorporate the results into a new baseline risk assessment, the amount of time humans are allowed to spend in that area.

“It’s going to be a long, drawn out process,” Davis said.

As a result, Riverview Heights residents won’t learn for some time what, if anything, is going to be done at the site. City officials have said repeatedly the only acceptable solution is removing the waste from the landfill.

City leaders have noted that residents who live near the landfill have been held in limbo for more than two decades waiting for something to be done. Now, it appears they’ll have to wait even longer.

Residents near there feel that their health has been jeopardized because of the radioactive material buried within.

“I wish we had better news for our residents, but we don’t,” Pilozzi said, adding that the city will continue to push for full remediation.

Meanwhile, the Army Corps says it remains committed to doing what’s best for the health and welfare of nearby residents.

“The Corps of Engineers is committed to ensuring a solution that’s protective of human health and the environment in the landfill area,” Buechi said.

“We’re responding to the concerns that were expressed when we released the proposed plan. We’re working to address those comments and concerns.”

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.