Town gains access to landfill cleanup money from NY State

The former Town of Hurley Landfill, at 1043 Dug Hill Road, has been classified a New York State Superfund site due to contamination from Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), according to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

The designation – which arises from the DEC’s May 2021 “Comprehensive Plan to Address Priority Solid Waste Sites for Potential Impacts on Drinking Water” – means Hurley will have access to more than $1 million from the state for remediation. (CLICK HERE to read the 2021 report.) 

“We were expecting this. It means we are eligible for funding,” Hurley Supervisor Melinda McKnight said of the Superfund designation.

McKnight noted the contamination dates to the period when the landfill operated – from the 1960s to the mid-1990s – but that the presence of PFOS wasn't known until after the state started testing for it in 2018. 

"The Town has been aware that the closed landfill tested positive for PFAS since testing took place in 2019," McKnight said. "The DEC installed systems to treat water of affected residences, which is why we received the classification that we did. The Town of Hurley has been working with the DEC on the investigation since 2021, when the Town retained engineers who worked on the initial landfill closure and were familiar with the site."

Also, McKnight said, "The Town is operating under an Order of Consent and, as a result, is limited in interactions with residents. Residents are urged to contact the DEC with any questions or concerns they may have regarding the potential impact on their property."

The State Superfund Site Classification Notice from the DEC can be viewed by clicking the PDF link below.

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RELATED (click to read): "Timeline of town leachate system developments: April 2019 to March 2023"