Published: August 18, 2008 11:18 pm            

TONAWANDA LANDFILL: DEC releases sump pump test results

Contaminants from the Town of Tonawanda landfill are not entering nearby city residents’ homes via their sump pumps, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

At the urging of City of Tonawanda officials, the DEC conducted sump pump tests at a dozen homes on Hackett Drive and Wadsworth Court in March to determine whether hazardous materials buried in the landfill had passed through the groundwater and into the homes, potentially putting people in contact with the waste.

The town is in the process of trying to cap the landfill, which is located in the northwestern corner of the town and borders a residential neighborhood in the city.

In 1991, the U.S. Department of Energy identified material in the landfill that contained enhanced levels of uranium-238 similar to the product and by-product created by the former Linde Air Products facility as part of its work on the federal government’s Manhattan Project to develop the first nuclear weapon in the 1940s.

As a result, the most contaminated 3.5 acres of the landfill site have been designated part of the federal government’s Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program.

The DEC worked with the state Department of Health to develop the sump sampling program and results evaluation, and delivered its findings to City Hall on Friday.

“Both agencies agree that the results indicate that contaminants from the landfill are not entering the sumps of homes immediately bordering the Town of Tonawanda landfill,” Mark J. Hans, the DEC’s regional solid materials engineer, wrote in a letter to Mayor Ron Pilozzi.

“The results are typical of those expected in this area and indicate that there is no potential threat to the health of the residents of the homes tested. No further actions are required at this time,” Hans continued.

While the sump test results are good news for Riverview Heights residents, city leaders say they remain steadfast in their position that the federal government must remove the radioactive material buried there.

“I’m not happy with where we are today, because the fact of the matter is, it’s still there,” Pilozzi said. “Why should these people have to put up with that question mark in the back of their minds? That’s unconscionable to me.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to release its record of decision — its final say on whether the federal government or the state should remediate the landfill — within the next few months. However, Fourth Ward Councilman Rick Davis said that’s not likely to happen this year considering more soil tests, which could sway the record of decision, are planned.

The sump pump tests come slightly more than a year after radiological surveys were conducted on the backyards of some homes in the vicinity of the landfill and at Riverview Elementary School. Those tests also turned up negative. In addition, city officials have pushed for the state Department of Health to conduct a cancer study in the area.

Although the radiological and sump studies indicate that no contamination issues exist, the city will continue push for full remediation, the mayor said. “Then — and only then — can we guarantee the health, safety and welfare of our citizens.”

Chris Thomas, co-chair of the citizens group CURE, or Clean Up Riverview’s Environment, said he appreciates the DEC’s decision to conduct the sump tests, but he isn’t completely comfortable with the results.

Thomas, whose sump pump was one of the 12 tested, plans to send the results to the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, a Virginia-based environmental organization founded by Lois Gibbs, who brought national attention to the Love Canal crisis in Niagara Falls 30 years ago.

The DEC sent 43 letters to individual home owners inviting them to participate in the sump sampling program, of which 12 indicated a willingness. Between March 10 and 13, DEC Buffalo and Albany staffers collected samples of sump water from each testing location. The samples were then taken to environmental testing labs to be analyzed.

“Everybody should be relieved that residents aren’t coming into contact with the material through the groundwater, but it doesn’t dismiss the fact that soil samples need to be taken from residents’ properties and the radioactive waste needs to be removed and shipped out of the area,” Davis said.

While city leaders continue to work with elected officials at the state and federal level, CURE plans to do the same while continuing to press for a lawsuit against the town regarding quality of life issues. Thomas, the group’s co-chair, says CURE won’t rest until the site is remediated.

“I think there’s still much more work to be done,” he said. “It’s definitely far from over.”

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

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.