Fourteen Drums Mean $60,000 Cleanup for City

SEA ISLE – City workers discovered buried ‘treasure’ while cleaning an old landfill in preparation to make it into a passive park, but the treasure wasn’t the kind left behind by the likes of Blackbeard or Captain Kidd.
City Administrator George Savastano told City Council during its March 10 meeting a consultant onsite at the landfill had discovered two buried drums in addition to one drum that had washed up in the marsh.
“In the course of our delineation of the waste limits at the landfill,” said Savastano, “we discovered there were two buried drums. In the course of excavating those drums we discovered more drums, unfortunately.” A total of 14 drums have been discovered.
Savastano told Council the drums must be removed. “We cannot leave them there. We have to sample them, test them and test the materials that are in the drums.”
The landfill where the drums were found has been out of service for more than 30 years. Ownership of the drums remains unknown.
The city plans to close the landfill according to Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations and convert it to a passive park.
“In doing that,” said Savastano, “we still have the intention of using dredge materials from the confined disposal facility directly to the south of the landfill. As part of that project, we have another obligation to secure the western bank of the landfill that has become eroded and exposed waste along the bay.”
In the course of delineating where the waste was in the 20-acre landfill, the drums were discovered.
A heron rookery sits where the drums are located. DEP regulations are stringent about disturbing the rookery. That area is off limits to work being done between April 1 and Aug. 15.
“We have asked for Fish and Wildlife’s approval to remove these drums now, as opposed to waiting for Aug. 15,” said Savastano.
According to Savastano, he was notified of the drums March 28 and he directed staff to immediately begin the process of removing the buried drums.
“I could not get it done before April 1,” he said. His staff contacted Fish and Wildlife and DEP to request approval to continue the work started in March. “We have yet to receive that.”
Savastano said he is doubtful the city will receive approval to continue the removal and will have to postpone the work until after Aug. 15.
“How long does it take to remove them,” asked Council president John Divney.
If no other drums are found during the removal process the cleanup will take members of the city’s Public Works department approximately one to two weeks, replied Savastano. If permission is received from DEP to allow removal during the April 1 through Aug. 15 time period, the city will continue removing the drums. If DEP permission is denied, the site will be secured and the work will be completed in August.
Removal of the drums will involve careful excavation of each unit by placing it into a sealed container and removing any soil around the drum that appears to be stained or contaminated. Soil samples must be tested along with samples from the drums.
“We don’t need a lot of time,” said Savastano. “We’re just being very careful. We could have just gone in a different and just taken them out but we felt with all we’ve been working on here we wanted to make sure we followed the rules and regulations.”
According to Savastano closure of landfill according to DEP regulations will require a minimum of placing two feet of soil on top of the landfill, creating a cap.
“That was our intention since the beginning of the project,” said Savastano, “along with the development of the passive park.”
He explained that developments, such as the discovery of the heron rookery, prohibit building the passive park in that area.
“Regardless if we had ever gone down the path of developing the passive park,” said Savastano, “we have an obligation to clean up that site. Regardless of who put the material there or how long ago it was, we own it.”
Savastano said the drum removal itself will cost the city approximately $60,000. The total contract was $430,000 when the environmental and engineering work was begun. To date, approximately half the amount has been used.