SIDNEY LANDFILL SITE
NEW YORK
EPA ID# NYD980507677
EPA REGION 2
CONGRESSIONAL DIST. 23
Delaware County
Sidney
Site Description 	
The Sidney Landfill site covers 50 acres of a hilltop located on the eastern side of Richardson Hill Road,
approximately 1 mile from Route 27 in the Town of Sidney. The landfill, located in a sparsely populated
area of steep hills, woods, and farmland, accepted municipal and commercial waste, and possibly, waste
oils from 1964 until 1972. A wetland area and Herrick Hollow Creek are immediately down slope from
the site. Organic solvents are present in the bedrock aquifer. Contamination from the site poses a threat
to local springs. Leachate seeps have been associated with this landfill since the 1960s. Approximately
1,000 people who depend on surface water or ground water for their drinking water supply live within 3 miles
of the site.
Site Responsibility: This site is being addressed through
federal and potentially responsible parties'
actions.
NPL LISTING HISTORY
Proposed Date: 06/24/88
Final Date: 03/30/89
Threats and Contaminants
The ground water on- and off-site contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including
solvents and poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The leachate, sediments, and surface water
on-site contain VOCs. Solvents and PCBs are present in on-site soils. Direct contact with
contaminated soil and with contaminated ground water may pose a threat.
Cleanup Approach 	
The site is being addressed in two stages: immediate actions and a long-term remedial
phase focusing on the cleanup of the entire site.
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Response Action Status
Immediate Actions: Approximately eighty warning signs were posted along the
perimeter of the landfill by EPA.
f\ Entire Site: EPA initiated a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) in 1990
to determine the nature and extent of the contamination problem at the site and to evaluate
remedial alternatives. Following the completion of the RI/FS, a Record of Decision was
signed on September 28, 1995, selecting a final remedy for the site. The selected remedy calls for the
construction of four independent closure caps over several disposal areas and extracting and treating
contaminated ground water located in a ground water hot spot. To facilitate the implementation of the
remedy, the design and construction of the closure caps and the ground water remedy are being performed
separately. The design of the caps was completed in September 1998 and the construction was completed in
November 1999. To improve the ability to recover water from the bedrock, blasting was used to interconnect
existing fractures and to create new fractures the bedrock. Following the fracturing of the bedrock, however,
it was concluded that extracting contaminated ground water from the blasted trench may not be the most
effective means of remediating the groundwater. Since significant levels of ground water contamination still
exist, alternative ground water remedial technologies were evaluated. Based upon this evaluation, pilot-scale
testing of an alternative technology (hydrogen release compound injection) is presently being undertaken.
It is anticipated that the ground water pilot study and design will be completed in Winter 2002; the
implementation would follow shortly, thereafter.
Site Facts: EPA sent 53 information request letters and followed up with 15 letters notifying
potentially responsible parties (PRPs) of their liability and requesting them to initiate an RI/FS. No good
faith offers were received and the investigation of the site was financed by the Superfund. In August
1996, the PRPs agreed to design and construct the remedy selected by EPA pursuant to a Unilateral
Administrative Order issued by EPA.
In 2001, EPA received over $5 million from the PRPs as a result of a federal court decision against 2
PRPs as partial reimbursement for EPA's site-related investigation, oversight, and enforcement costs.
The Richardson Hill Road Landfill site, also listed on the National Priorities List, is located directly
across the street from the Sidney Landfill site.
Cleanup Progress
(Cap Construction Completed: Ground Water Remedy
-^Design Underway)
After listing the site on the NPL, EPA conducted a preliminary evaluation of the conditions at the site
and determined that no immediate actions were required to make the site safer while investigations
leading to the implementation of a remedy were taking place.
Site Repositories
Sidney Memorial Public Library, Main Street, Sidney, New York 13838
EPA Region II Superfund Records Center, 290 Broadway, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866
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