HERMITAGE EPA decision to remove landfill from Superfund list elicits concern

By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The federal Environmental Protection Agency plans to remove the closed River Road Landfill from its Superfund list of contaminated sites.
The EPA published legal notices of its intent today, asking for public comment on the plan.
"It's ridiculous, but it doesn't surprise me," said Pat White, a Hermitage city commissioner and longtime critic of the landfill.
It was hard enough getting the landfill on the Superfund list in the first place, White said, adding, "What is it, big business and government working together?"
The EPA notice says it has determined that the site "poses no significant risk to human health or the environment and therefore, no further cleanup efforts by EPA are required."
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection agree with the EPA's plan, the notice said.
Doubts threat is gone
White has his doubts about assertions that the landfill poses no threat.
"The problems is still there. It hasn't gone away. We know there are tons of chemicals in there from Westinghouse [Electric Corp.]," he said, referring to the disposal of hazardous materials at the landfill years ago.
The landfill is between River Road and the Shenango River and was used as a landfill beginning in 1963 with municipal, residential and industrial wastes' being placed there.
Waste Management of Pennsylvania bought the site in 1980 and operated it until 1986, installing a groundwater/leachate collection system tied into a public sewer line and a groundwater dam to prohibit groundwater from flowing off the site into the river.
Waste Management stopped receiving waste there in 1986 and formally closed the landfill in 1987, covering it with an earthen cap and installing a surface water drainage system and a landfill gas venting system in compliance with state requirements.
Added to list in 1989
The EPA added River Road to its Superfund list in 1989 because of concerns about hazardous materials such as polychlorinated biphenyls, lead and arsenic found there, but a 1995 Record of Decision by the agency determined that the existing monitoring and runoff/leachate collection systems were sufficient to address environmental concerns.
That decision put deed restrictions on the land to prevent it from ever being used as a site for homes or water wells but would allow the construction of nonresidential buildings such as barns and garages.
The site will continue to be monitored to ensure the collection and other systems continue to work properly.
Waste Management has approached the city about giving the 102-acre site to Hermitage to be converted to some recreational use, said Gary Hinkson, city manager.
The company has apparently done the same thing with closed landfills elsewhere, Hinkson said, noting that the discussions have been only preliminary and that no terms have been discussed.
City commissioners were less than enthusiastic about the offer.
Anyone wishing to comment on the EPA's plan can do so until Oct. 30 by writing to Donna Santiago, Remedial Project Manager (3HS22), USEPA Region III, 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103-2029.