Belmar spoils begin
PMK Group’s Ben Diemer takes samples of dredged materials from the Belmar Marina that were deposited at the Brick landfill.
Administration saw plan as cost-effective, safe; tests on
Belmar spoils begin
By karl vilacoba
Staff Writer
Some back yards are separated from the landfill site by a short fence.
BRICK –– Since opening in the 1940s, it’s been known as McCormick’s Dump, French’s Landfill, the Brick Township Landfill, and, as Mayor Joseph Scarpelli recently called it, "a $10 million burden."
Twenty years after waste disposal operations ceased at Brick’s only Superfund site, officials continue to search for a remediation plan that is environmentally sound, financially feasible and comforts its neighborhood residents.
The Township Council authorized an agreement with Belmar in mid-June to accept dredged materials from the Shark River at the defunct landfill for $5 per cubic yard. Officials viewed the spoils as a way to level out the site’s uneven terrain, and earn between $1 million-$2 million to offset remediation costs in the process. The materials, tested by Birdsall Engineering of Barnegat, Belmar and Eatontown, were certified as safe under residential standards established by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
An ordinance in the works would have set a flat rate for municipalities, contractors or other members of the public to dispose of their spoils at the site, Sally Ike Road. The borough of Point Pleasant was another on the short list of interested suitors.
PHOTOS BY FARRAH MAFFAI Tests with groundwater monitoring wells will determine if restrictions on the use of private wells in the landfill area should be expanded further. The above monitoring wells are at the restricted area’s northeastern perimeter on Mill Brook Road.
But Brick’s plans were sidetracked when a large group of neighborhood residents packed a council meeting to complain about the odors, environmental dangers and other negative criteria associated with the incoming Belmar spoils.
Brick rescinded the Belmar agreement and imposed a moratorium on all dredge spoils dumping at the site until a second, independent agency verified its cleanliness.
PMK Group’s Ben Diemer sampled the Belmar materials in nine separate areas on Aug. 6, a move he said will provide the most accurate result.
"You get a general picture so you don’t hit one hot spot and think that’s spread all through the site," Diemer said.
To ensure they weren’t diluted by recent rainfalls, wind and sun, samples were taken from about 2 feet below the surface. All soils will be mixed and sent to a lab for examination, which should take about a month’s time, Diemer said.
Future dumping unsure
If the soil meets DEP standards, Scarpelli said he will reach out to the neighborhood’s residents to "try and build their confidence in our judgment" that the deposit plan is a safe one. The area must be filled, administration officials contend, to brace the area against erosion that could damage abutting properties.
Chelsea Drive resident Douglas Verville, who is regarded as the spokesperson for the neighborhood’s concerned residents, vowed to oppose any plans to accept further dredged materials. If a single truck enters the site, he said, it will be met with human chains.
"Regardless of whether they meet the DEP standards, I don’t think it’s wise to put toxins on top of toxins," Verville said. "There will be no more dredge materials in there, I guarantee you. The residents won’t have it."
Councilman Stephen Acropolis voted in favor of the Belmar agreement but said he would not do so again.
When landfill-area residents first caught wind of the spoils dumping, Verville called Acropolis at home. The two hopped over the fence to look at the materials up close.
"I was told it’s sand, and it was sludge material," Acropolis said. "I saw a little rainbow in a puddle spot; I saw pieces of concrete and tires sticking out.
"What do you think it does for someone’s property value, when a prospective buyer sees the trucks pulling in and out of there? It’s going to kill it," Acropolis noted.
Signs abound that Verville and Acropolis haven’t been its only recent visitors. Trash ranging from beer cans, burnt-out fireworks, candy bar wrappers and even a boogie board are strewn around the grounds.
In the fall, the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority (BTMUA) offered to the public free topsoil, which was being removed from the future reservoir site on Sally Ike and Herbertsville roads. Many government agencies and private citizens took them up on the offer, but the BTMUA still paid Muccio Inc., of Farmingdale, $1.62 per cubic yard for removal of large quantities of soil.
Both Acropolis and Verville view the BTMUA dirt giveaway as a lost opportunity. Scarpelli disagreed, noting that some levels of toxins were found in that soil, too.
Superfund status disputed
Thirty years ago, the rumblings about hazardous practices and foul odors at what was then French’s Landfill were enough to convince township officials to step in. Brick officials purchased and took over operations at the dump in 1973, under the thinking that, if they owned it, they could make sure it was being run safely.
Since then, Brick has spent millions in tax dollars trying to remediate and monitor pollution at the site.
"Who knows what kind of Love Canal we would have if we didn’t buy that site," Acropolis said, referring to the famous New York residential development that became a symbol for hidden toxic waste.
Specifically, the 42-acre landfill was used for the dumping of sewage/septic wastes, commercial garbage, construction debris and other wastes. Because Brick had no sewage system, septic wastes were its main deposit, directly dumped at the site in quantities of 75,000 to 100,000 gallons daily.
When it was named to the Superfund list in 1983, Scarpelli said, many believed Brick would receive funds for cleanup. Federal funds are supplied in cases when the responsible polluters can’t be found or can’t afford to pay the cleanup costs. Brick, a former owner with a large tax base, didn’t qualify. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DEP maintain oversight for remediation efforts at the site.
Today, the township is pursuing financial relief from insurers of the former landfill operators, officials said.
Many township officials say the site isn’t polluted enough to merit the listing, and point to a supportive 1993 report by the township’s engineering firm, Remington & Vernick, as evidence.
"To this day, no one in government, past or present, can figure out why French’s Landfill is on the Superfund list," Scarpelli said.
In 1982, Brick oversaw the surface remediation of the dump, removing about 150 above-ground drums, and filling and venting three septage pits, according to EPA records.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, developments sprung up around its area, with some back yards directly abutting the landfill’s property line. When the Planning Board rejected an application to build there because of possible contamination, developers successfully appealed the ruling in state Superior Court, according to Brick Public Information Officer Bryan Dickerson.
Plume shifting
To Dickerson, who has studied the landfill since joining Brick’s administration in 1995, a total cleanup of the landfill is impossible. The township’s best strategy for the future is containment, which can be achieved through careful monitoring, he said.
The council recently passed an ordinance allocating $325,000 to continue monitoring a toxic plume that is spread through an underground area of about 325 acres. Recent tests indicate that the plume continues to migrate.
The blue heads of monitoring wells are visible protruding from the ground in this Groundwater Use Restriction Area (GURA), which was first established in 1999.
"When we figured out how far it was, it was quite a surprise because we didn’t realize how big of a problem it was," Dickerson said. "We kept putting wells in, and it went further and further."
The well-restriction zone reaches further than the plume itself, as a precaution. Drawing water near the plume risks creating a vacuum that will pull toxic water in to take its place, Dickerson said.
With that in mind, the latest tests will determine if the current GURA is adequate or requires expansion. The DEP required testing on groundwater in area condominium complexes, residential wells and an irrigation well used at Brick Township Memorial High School.
Officials hope the landfill tract can one day be left safely as passive open space, or — in an ideal scenario — become a park.
The township remains unsure whether the final solution for the landfill lies in capping it, or letting the below-ground gases naturally dissolve in the air. At a recent council meeting, Brick Business Administrator Scott MacFadden said the township will take direction from the DEP on the matter.
Verville, for one, would prefer it capped for good.
"This is the only open sore we have in Brick. Let’s fix it," he said.