State investigates tank spill at former landfill

By DAVID HULSE

MINISINK FORD, NY — Stormwater apparently infiltrated the leachate collection system at the former Barnes Landfill in mid-April, prompting an overflow of the holding tank, Bill Runge of the Department of Environmental Conservation reported last week.

Runge said the DEC had every reason to believe that the road, off Woods Road, which serves the leachate tank and the tank itself would be soon be repaired and serviceable again. The collection system has already been repaired, he said.

The landfill, now closed for a decade, was a source of controversy in the late 1980’s when a Westchester County trash hauler bought the small existing landfill with plans of creating a regional landfill. With increased use, the existing hillside landfill drew the complaints of neighboring Kittatinny Campground, located downgrade. Leaking leachates from the trash eventually prompted felony water pollution charges against owner Robert Liguori and the landfill closed shortly thereafter.

Runge said the DEC has no reason to suspect any hazardous spills from the overflowed tank, but the agency spills unit was notified to begin a case log in order to build a case should repairs not be made. Samples of the overflowing leachate were taken for analysis.

Reporting before the Upper Delaware Council, Runge asked for a volunteer to assist the agency in monitoring the landfill, which he said is visited by DEC staff once a year.

In other business at the UDC’s May 1 meeting, the council discussed and was critical of a news report suggesting that the Kiryas Joel community in Orange County was seeking authorization to build a tap pipeline to draw water from the Catskill Aqueduct.

Carol Collier, executive director of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) said her agency had no problem with the tap, as long as New York City does not exceed its 800,000 gallon daily draw on the watershed.

Separately, Collier reported that DRBC’s Water Resources Management Committee is months away from completing a new 30-year management plan for the river. The plan, which will become a basis for reorganizing DRBC’s comprehensive plan, should be delivered to the governors of the four compact states by late this year or early next year, she said.