The Cortese Landfill (Martinez, 1991)

The Cortese Landfill (Martinez, 1991) The Cortese Landfill Environmental Toxicology (Biology 357)
Case Study Russell Sage College
April 24, 1991
By Janesa Martinez

This paper was written by the above named college student, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of an Bachelor of Science degree in biology. It is posted on this website as a matter of local interest.

Characteristics of the Landfill Site:

The landfill was opened in 1970 in the hamlet of Narrowsburg, Town of Tusten, Sullivan County, NY. It is adjacent to the Delaware River, a railroad and a small man-made pond. The land was purchased from the Rod and Gun Club by John Cortese. Its regulation was by DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation). The land covers five acres of land owned by the Town and Corporation. The land is flat and rolling, covered with grasses. The surface and subsurface of the site consists of "flood plain silts", sands and gravels. These materials are very permeable and allow lechate to occur. The Delaware River is part of the National Scenic Recreational River System and is managed by the National Park Service for the public. Also, a known habitat of the bald eagle. Sam White's man-made pond is used for recreational activities, such as canoeing and camping. Cortese had set up a contract with the town that allowed them to throw their household garbage at the landfill.

The town has two drinking wells located on the flats down hill, one is by a river running along the landfill, the other one is about half a mile up river, so the gradient is uphill and chemicals usually don't go against a gradient. In theory, both wells can be polluted, but the one closer to the landfill is most likely to contaminated. As you pump water, you increase the capillary action, as a result you pull contamination towards the water.

Background Information:

As people went to throw out their household garbage at the site, they started to question the wholes at the dump and what the effect of proliferation of chemicals would be as time went on, so they notified the DEC. The DEC said that Cortese could not do that, the site was only to be used for household garbage. Fears arose in the town that the drinking and ground water might be polluted by the dump, after tests by the Cortese landfill had revealed evidence of he1avy metals and carcinogenic chemicals in the ground water. Due to the threat of contamination to drinking water, "the town shut down a nearby municipal well and now serves the approximately 300 homes in the water district with its one remaining well" (Long, 1989). Since one of the wells was closed, the town is concerned about the fact that what happens if one pump breaks, another one will definitely be needed. The residents want to construct another well at the towns expense, technically it's the Water District's expense, depending on if you live in or out of the district. People in the district will be affected largely.

The DEC was unsatisfied with the operation of this site because of its close proximity to the towns well, river, pond and Delaware River; the subsoil conditions which were very porous, so you know that the contamination would travel fast; and the existence of substantial amounts of illegally dumped industrial wastes of unknown origin and composition.

The DEC of Region III in White Plains, had originally ordered the Cortese landfill to close by December 31st, 1980, after the tests had been done. The closure was extended till April 1st, 1981 with a deadline of July 1st, 1981 after a second series of tests at the center of the dump, which revealed concentrations of zinc and lead above state standards. The DEC had required that John Cortese pay for the construction of an impermeable cover, or water-proof clay covering for the landfill to prevent rain water from leaching and further industrial chemical seepage from the site.

Companies had been charged with illegally burying toxic wastes in Sullivan County landfill as a dumping ground for "out-of-state" harmful chemical wastes. Companies that produced the waste, which was dumped at this landfill included: Consolidated Edison of NY; Continental Can Company Inc., Norwalk CT; Kayfries Inc. of NJ; and the major company responsible for the most dumping was Gaess Environmental Services Company of Passaic, NJ, later known as SCA Serices. SCA Services run by Gaess had illegally hauled and dumped toxic wastes from New Jersey producers at the Narrowsburg landfill between 1973 and 1974 All these companies were charged with allegations of "midnight dumping" at the Cortese site. However, Cortese had an agreement with SCA, where Cortese had agreed to receive a certain amount of money for each trailer load of industrial chemical waste delivered by SCA and dumped at the site. In 1973, state officials had discovered that these industries had generated up to 800 barrels of hazardous industrial chemicals containing: phenols; benzene (carcinogenic); toluene and xylene. These chemicals started to build up in the river that led into the pond, making it look muggy, smelly and oily.

SCA Services:

The SCA had delivered the chemical wastes to the landfill site in trucks driven by their own employees. At the time that SCA had arranged to dispose these wastes, they should have known that if these chemicals were not disposed in a manner which would present their releases into the environment, they could have been noxious, dangerous and could harm the land, water, air, human, animal and plant life. They failed to investigate if the site was suitable for the hazardous chemical waste from their company. Also, they failed to inquire with Cortese's methods of disposal that would be employed in order to prevent the release of these wastes into the environment. The SCA should have been aware that their wastes, not properly disposed, would eventually leach out and contaminate the air, soil and water. From the first day that the SCA had dumped chemical wastes at the site, it failed to warn the general public and residents who lived, worked or played near the site. Overall, there was definitely inadequate measures taken on behalf of the SCA to prevent this problem.

Cortese:

John Cortese dug up trenches himself for the disposal of the chemical wastes. The barrels containing the toxic wastes were dumped into the open trenches and flattened with a bulldozer. Cortese is just as at fault as SCA because he knew that these wastes were noxious, dangerous and would harm residents and others in the area. He basically failed to recognize or more likely, ignore all the negative actions that the dumping resulted in. Cortese should have prepared the site for this type of disposal by covering the barrels with clay or plastic then gravel, which would collect the lechate. Just as the SCA failed to warn the public about the dumping, it was Cortese who was the major person responsible for the advisement, considering that he did own this landfill site. Cortese chose to put the public's health and natural resources in threat.

In 1980, the state planned to sink additional groundwater monitoring wells at the site. The well will help define the quantity and type of compounds leaching into the regions ground water. This site was placed on an "Open Dump" list as required by the "Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)." Sites that fall under this list must be either upgraded or shut down. They are concerned with the direction of ground water flow and the effect of leachate generated by the site on close by water supply well.

In 1981, Sam White, the owner of a man-made pond located down stream from the landfill site and adjacent to the Delaware River after a testing that showed unacceptable levels of toxins by:the DEC, White was convinced that there was a significant safety risk. The testing by the DEC revealed high levels of toxic metals in the pond and the adjacent portion of the Delaware River. These toxic metals included:

I) Cyanide= "2420 ppm in river sediment"
2) Arsenic= ".078 ppm in pond water"

[Arsenic=] "4.6 ppm in pond sediment" (Letter,State of NY Dept. of Law, 1982).

White's lagoon basically serves as an artificial pathway, facilitating the release of the toxic chemicals from the adjacent landfill into the environment. As a result, the canoeing, fishing and tourist industries of this area have already been injured due to the "widely publicized pollution by the National Park Service."

Contamination at the Cortese landfill has been a management problem for the state of New York since 1973. At that time approximately 800 barrels of unidentified toxins were either buried or poured out at this site. The landfill was still used for household trash until it was Shut down by the New York DEC in 1982. This shut down was due to the testing that confirmed that toxic chemicals were in the ground water and was leaching out into the river.

Environmental Damage:

The air, wildlife and land as Well as the water resources of the Town of Tusten have been contaminated and harmed. The contamination and harm by the hazardous chemical wastes continue, to be a threat to the welfare, health and safety of the people who come in contact with the air, ground and water in the perimeter of the site.

1990-Present:

The DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) after seven years of trying to get the parties responsible for the toxic dumping at the site to clean up the Cortese landfill, has decided to give up and hand the case over to the Environmental Protection Agency of Eastern NY Region II, which will become the leading agency in charge of finding. a way to clean up the thousands of barrels of toxic wastes buried at the site for almost twenty years. Basically, the DEC since it functions at a state level, is unable to spend money on remediation and then reimburse themselves later from the responsible parties. On the other hand, the EPA works on a federal level and can implement a Superfund in order to clean up and later on obtain the reimbursement once the legal issues have been settled.

The EPA will provide up to $50,000 for those residents that have been affected by pollution, which will come from the Superfund. However, the residents are not concerned with the money that will be provided to them, instead they are more concerned that they be "recompensed for the cost to the water district of the new town well now under construction" (Chergotis, 16). This is more important since one of the wells near the site may have been polluted and the town is only monitoring on one well. The total clean up at the site could cost up to over $20 million, but since the landfill is one of the EPA's priority for clean up, it is eligible for millions of dollars from Superfund money to cover the cost. After the clean up, the EPA will go after those companies responsible for dumping the chemicals in the first place.

The workers have started to dig up holes until they reach the drums, which is approximately twelve feet. The EPA's major concern is to discover where the drums are located and stored contaminants with as little disturbance to the site. If the drums do not turn up after digging twelve feet, a magnetometer survey will be used. The workers will be wearing "yellow protective jump-suits, boots, gloves and gas-mask-like respirators linked to oxygen tanks" (Yeaman, 17). They are planning to dig six exploratory pits five feet by twenty by twelve feet, in different sections of the landfill. Nine samples of materials found will be sent to an independent laboratory to be tested for 130 different organic (pesticides, toluene, PCBs) and inorganic chemicals (metals and ions), EPA officials are monitoring the site with very sensitive equipment that will detect if any toxins escaped into the air, if this happens, work will stop immediately. The piece of equipment that will be used to detect toxins in the air is called "summa canister", which is a basketball sized metal sphere and will be placed at various locations at the site.

Overall, improving the design of landfill to make them ecologically safer, is very costly. Regardless of what the EPA does now, this land will always be the black pit because no one will ever hunt, camp or live on this land. The parties responsible must be held liable to the damage created to the surrounding environment. This type of greed displayed by Cortese cannot be tolerated especially at the expense to the natural wildlife surrounding the landfill.

Works Cited

Borwick, Jim. The River Reporter, Narrowsburg January 31, 1991, Vol. XVII (letter), "Can EPA do a speedy Cortese Clean-up?"

Brownell, Frank. Sullivan County Democrat, March 15, 1991, "EPA.Begins Tes6ing At Cortese Landfill."

Chergotis, Pamela. The River Reporter, Narrowsburg February 14, 1991, "EPA takes on Cortese-Landfill."

Hulse, David. The River Reporter Narrowsburg, May 24, 1990, Vol. XVI, Number 21, "Cortese dump clean-up still two years away."

Levine, Steven. The Times Herald Record ,Middletown, February 3, 1982, p. 5, "Firm dumped Jersey wastes in County."

Long, Tim. The River Reporter, Narrowsburg January 26, 1989, p. 7. "Source of Toxic Waste at Cortese Landfill determined."

Moore, Michael. State of New York Department Of Law (letter) October 28, 1982. "Re: River Contamination from Pond on Sam White property."

Pontier, Glen. The River Reporter, Narrowsburg, April 5, 1990: pp. 1 & 22. "Feds to take over Cortese Landfill case."

Rue, Tom. The River Reporter, Narrowsburg, May 28, 1987, pp. 1 & 3, "Tusten to pump river?"

Yeaman, Barbara. The River Reporter, Narrowsburg March 14, 1991., pp. 1 & 17, "Workers in protective suits probe Cortese dump."

Yeaman, Barbara. The River Reporter, Narrowsburg July 20, 1989, pp. 1 & 17. "'Testing continues at Cortese Landfill."