Leachate Issues Cost NY Landfill $1.4M

The Times Herald-Record reports on the steep bill an upstate New York town faces due to groundwater contamination from a local landfill.

Orange County officials expect to spend about $1.4 million pumping groundwater from beneath the county's closed landfill to address the state Department of Environmental Conservation's concerns about contaminated water seeping into the adjacent Wallkill River.

The Legislature's Physical Services Committee on Tuesday approved bonding $400,000 for the first phase of the project. Peter Hammond, a deputy public works commissioner who oversees the maintenance of the closed landfill, told lawmakers the work was required by a recent DEC consent order in response to elevated ammonia levels found in groundwater "seepage" on the banks of the Wallkill, known in that area as the Cheechunk Canal.