WPCNR THE DUMP REPORT. By John F. Bailey. June 18, 2007 UPDATED 6 PM E.D.T.: Fourteen months after the Department of Environmental Conservation ordered the White Plains City Dump composting operation capped and closed, due to TriEthylene Chloride contamination over 35 years, there is no timetable for a decision on when and if the city is going to have to remediate the soil and TEC contamination existing there, according to a DEC spokesperson.

The spokesperson confirmed this afternoon that the Consent Order with the City of White Plains on the total amount of fine the city owes the state had not been finalized, but that it will be soon. They said the DEC will be present when sediment samples are collected from the Mamaroneck River. The spokesperson advised that they expected the testing to be completed by the early part of the summer.

The  former compost operation beyond the baseball field at Our Lady of Sorrows in May, 2006, since removed.  The DEC after 35 years of knowing the TEC contamination existed there is orchestrating a series of tests by the City of White Plains as we write, to determine the extent of contamination that the agency has known of for 35 years. WPCNR Photo Archive.

Wendy Rosenbach, Regional Citizen Participation Specialist for the DEC, told WPCNR that the White Plains Department of Public Works "Subsurface Investigation" (called for in September 2006, according to letter from the city to the DEC), has been "ongoing since March 2007." She reports "monitoring wells have been installed and have been sampled. DEC has not yet received the analysis of the results."

WPCNR asked whether  the DEC checking on the monitoring work that White Plains is undertaking on the landfill site.

Rosenbach said they were:  "DEC has provided oversight for the investigation program by reviewing and commenting on the investigative work plan and by visiting the site on several occasions to observe the field work in progress. DEC staff will be present when sediment samples are collected in the River. DEC will review the analytical results and the investigation report."

WPCNR pressed on how long will the testing phase last. Rosenbach said: "The consultant's statement regarding what investigative work needs to be completed is: We need to complete the stormwater sampling and the sediment/surface water sampling. We also have to drill on the Our Lady of Sorrows property. With the negotiations for property access, I think the School was hoping we could do the work when summer vacation starts. Based on this, I would expect the investigation to be completed by the early part of the summer."

Asked what Commissioner of Public Works Joseph Nicoletti is attempting to determine, Rosenbach said,"A major goal of the surface investigation is to define the horizontal and vertical extent of the TCE contamination in soil and groundwater."

WPCNR asked if the DEC had an estimate of the amount of TEC down there. Rosenbach said the testing would determine that: "DEC does not have an estimate of the real extent of contamination. We are waiting for the results of the investigation to determine that information."

I asked what would the city have to do in event of a cleanup. Rosenbach noted, "The purpose of the current investigation is to define the problem and identify requirements for remediation."

I asked why it has taken the DEC so long to do the tests. Ms. Rosenbach said, "This is an extensive investigation with numerous monitoring wells, test pits, borings, soil gas measurements, geophysical surveys, etc. The time which has been spent carrying out the investigation is not excessive or unusual for an investigation of this scope."

Rosenbach had no estimate of possible costs of cleanup: "DEC does not estimate cleanup costs. DEC will review the site investigation and remedial plans after they are submitted."

As of this writing, Rosenbach had no knowledge of the total fines the city has agreed to pay, based on the Common Council approval of giving the Mayor the right to sign an agreement with the DEC at the last Common Council meeting.

The city, at last report, was forced to make arrangements to take its composting to a county facility and cap its compost pile. The DEC is still awaiting city testing results to determine the extent of the TEC deposits said previously by the Commissioner of Public Works to be 15 feet below the surface. 

The Mayor's has not responded to WPCNR questions on the progress of the dump tests.