Southern York County Life

Landfill taint no longer a worry

Site could soon be used for camping, recreation activity

The Environmental Protection Agency removed the former York County landfill in Hopewell Township from its national priorities list last week—meaning it’s no longer an environmental hazard. That will pave the way for a new use for the 306-acre area off Plank Road, and one proposal would turn it into an all-purpose field, said Bill Streett, chairman of the township’s board of trustees.

While officials have a long way to go before any proposals are final, Streett said the tentative plans also include soccer and baseball fields, a walking trail and a place for local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to camp.

"We want it to become something that everyone could benefit from, if this happens,” he said. “We are working hard to get it done, but it still might not come to fruition.”

Streett said potential breakdowns in negotiations with the York County Solid Waste and Refuse Authority as the only hurdle, but he said an agreement could be signed by both parties in the next two months. The authority would be in charge of all necessary funding, Streett said.

‘Great news’: Ellen O’Conner, spokeswoman for the authority, called the EPA’s action “great news” for the county.

Removal from the national priorities list effectively means cleanup measures undertaken by the county have minimized groundwater contamination and protected the environment.

“We’re hoping that whatever becomes of the site will be the final positive legacy,” O’Conner said.

History of the site: The York County sanitary landfill opened in 1974 with a clay base—the industry standard at the time, O’Conner said. The authority detected groundwater contamination in 1983 and notified the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates all waste-disposal facilities in the state.

The DEP found high levels of volatile organic compounds near the facility. Although the decomposition process produces these compounds, they still pose profound health risks. Approximately 135 acres of the landfill were considered hazardous, and the federal EPA, notified by the county, placed this portion on the national priorities list for cleanup.

The county installed a double-liner system, which contained leakage caused by decomposition or rainwater infiltration, rather than letting it sift through the clay base and enter the groundwater, O’Conner said.

In 1989, the authority built a resource recovery incinerator in Manchester Township and after that, the only waste taken to the landfill was the ash from the incineration process.

The landfill, however, was closed and capped in 1997.

Moving forward: After collecting data on the site’s groundwater for years, the county asked the EPA to see if the York County landfill could be removed from the list—and the agency agreed last week.

Sandy Roderick, community relations coordinator for the south-central region of the DEP, said the department agreed with the federal decision, adding that she could foresee no health threat to county residents down the line.

Despite the cleanup’s success, O’Conner said the authority’s job isn’t over.

“The thing about being taken off that site is that it doesn’t change and will not change anything we’re doing now,” she said. “There’s absolutely no contamination on that site. How long will that be? Nobody can really say. But the good news is we’re in this for the long haul and we are committed to maintaining this.

Source: The York Dispatch (we obtain permission for external material)
by SETH FREEDLAND
Posted by Dan Baldwin on 03/02/2005 at 03:51 PM in News

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