Redevelopment could be in the future for landfill Municipal landfill off Sally Ike Road still on federal Superfund list BY DANIELLE MEDINA Correspondent BRICK TOWNSHIP - Township officials are exploring the possibility of allowing private development of the defunct municipal landfill, which is still on the federal Superfund list. "No one wants a Superfund site in their backyard," Council President Stephen C. Acropolis said at a council caucus meeting last week. "This is a first step, a real exciting step." Acropolis said that although the township spends between $300,000 and $500,000 annually to monitor and remediate the site, it's not any closer to shutting it down permanently. A private developer would be allowed to build a residential or recreational development if it is something that could benefit the township, according to the resolution. Township officials mentioned Liberty National Golf Course, Jersey City, and the proposed industrial park in Stafford Township as two landfill sites that have been redeveloped. "The goal is to get redevelopment and not have the taxpayers pay for it," Acropolis said. Any discussion on redevelopment of the 42-acre site off Sally Ike Road would include input for the township's residents, he said. "Nobody is going to do anything without involving the residents every step of the way," he said. Residents complained to council members in 2003 about their decision to accept dredge material at the landfill from the Belmar Boat Basin and Point Pleasant at $5 per cubic yard. Both agreements could have brought in an estimated $1 - $2 million in revenues and could have been used to offset the landfill's considerable remediation costs. But neighbors were concerned about possible toxins added to the Superfund site; odors, possible plummeting property values; and what they said was a lack of communication from township officials regarding the dumping. Township officials said then the dredge material was mostly sand and nontoxic and would be used to stabilize the slopes of the landfill. But they dropped the idea because of residents' concerns. The township administration will consult with its engineering firms - Birdsall Engineering, Eatontown, PMK Group, Farmingdale and T&M Associates, Middletown - for a feasibility study on the current redevelopment project. The resolution, which was expected to be passed on Tuesday, allows Birdsall Engineering to apply for funding from the Hazardous Discharge Site Fund to assess and investigate the existence and amount of hazardous substances and waste at the site. Proposed redevelopment could occur within a three-year period, once the remediation of the site is complete. "This is the last open space in Brick and people want a resolution," Councilwoman Kathy Russell said. The landfill, also known as French's Landfill and McCormick's Dump, opened in the 1940s. It operated for more than 30 years, and accepted sewage, septage, solids, bulk liquids and other wastes, according to federal Environmental Protection Agency records. It was privately owned until 1973, when Brick purchased it. The township operated the landfill until 1979, when it was permanently closed. The landfill was placed on the Superfund list in September 1983. Brick and state agencies began a surface cleanup of the site in 1982. They removed 150 above-ground drums and filled and vented three septage pits. The action "greatly reduced the potential for exposure to contaminated materials" at the landfill, according to an EPA progress report on the site.