Ordinance would pay for landfill studies

Engineering firm’s report indicates
contaminant plume may be migrating
By karl vilacoba
Staff Writer

An underground contaminant plume stemming from the defunct Brick Township Landfill site may be migrating and should be monitored further, according to a report issued to township officials.

The N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has required the installation of additional underground well clusters to track the plume, according to the report, which was prepared for the township by Birdsall Engineering, of Barnegat, Belmar and Eatontown. The outcome of these tests would determine if Brick’s current Groundwater Use Restriction Area (GURA) needed to be adjusted.

To make sure the GURA is still effective, the DEP has required sampling of irrigation wells at several condominium complexes, 14 residential wells and an irrigation well used for the sprinkler systems at Brick Township Memorial High School.

The Brick Township Landfill, also known as French’s Landfill and McCormick’s Dump, operated for more than 30 years, accepting sewage, septage, solids, bulk liquids and other wastes. Brick purchased the privately owned dump in 1973 and operated it until it closed in 1979. It is Brick’s only Superfund site.

Underground monitoring tests conducted in 1998 and 1999 discovered that the plume was more extensive than earlier believed, according to federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) records.

The plume was not found to have any impact on any potable wells, but contamination was detected in some irrigation wells. In 1999, the township placed restrictions on the use of those irrigation wells, and it has continued to monitor them with the DEP’s guidance.

The Township Council passed a $335,300 bonding ordinance on first reading last week to pay for the work.

Brick Business Administrator Scott MacFadden said the cost of monitoring work is about the same every year.

The report offered support for the Brick administration’s plan to deposit dredge spoils on the site to stabilize the site’s uneven topography, pointing out that "the funds raised could be used to offset the costs of ongoing remedial activities."

The council authorized Mayor Joseph Scarpelli to enter into an agreement with Belmar to accept dredge materials from the Belmar Marina for a $5-per-cubic-yard fee in May.

The council was on the verge of authorizing a similar agreement with Point Pleasant and drafting an ordinance that would set a flat rate for other municipalities and private citizens to do the same.

The council rescinded the Belmar agreement under pressure from residents living in the landfill neighborhood, and agreed to conduct further tests on the deposited materials.

At last week’s meeting, MacFadden defended the Belmar agreement as safe, and disputed the assertions by some resi­dents that the spoils gave off a foul odor.

"We’re doing, throughout this process, whatever the DEP tells us to do. Noth­ing we’ve done there is unsafe," MacFad­den said.

Brick will either pay money to fill in the site, or earn up to $2 million in rev­enues by filling it with the dredge materi­als, he said.

Meanwhile, Point Pleasant is request­ing Brick to reconsider its decision on ac­cepting the fill. Point Pleasant’s borough attorney, Jerry Dasti, offered to send rep­resentatives to a meeting between Brick officials and residents in a letter to Brick Township Attorney Charles Starkey. Dasti said Brick’s reversal on the issue came as "a complete surprise" to the borough, which already made several arrangements in anticipation of using the landfill.

"We certainly have no intention of causing any disruption to the neighbor­hood surrounding the closed landfill, and would not deposit any spoils that would not be deemed acceptable to DEP and the township," Dasti said.