Battle Over Stinky Landfill In Hudson County Still Raging

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — Shots continue to be fired in the legal battle over a controversial landfill in Hudson County.

Last week, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) filed an appeal to reopen the Keegan Landfill in Kearny. The facility has been accused of creating a persistent, noxious-smelling gas that spurred the evacuation of a nearby athletic field in September.

The landfill has also been issued violations for dumping “liquid sewage sludge” on the premises, according to the New Jersey Sierra Club and officials with the township of Kearny, who have been among its most vocal critics.

A temporary injunction to shut the facility down was finalized in September. The facility has been closed since June, and NJSEA officials have previously said they “remain committed to the proper closure of the Keegan Landfill.”

However, on Nov. 1, the NJSEA appealed the decision of Hudson County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Jablonski, who previously called the landfill a “clear and present danger” to the community.

A spokesperson for the NJSEA declined to offer comment for this article, citing pending litigation.

• See related: This Landfill Infuriated Kearny; Now A Judge Wants It Closed
• See related: Stinky Gas From NJ Landfill Shuts Down Hudson County Soccer Field

‘THE COMMUNITY WILL CONTINUE OUR FIGHT’

Kearny officials and the Sierra Club have blasted the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for not doing enough to protect local residents and “repeatedly issuing year-to-year temporary permits for operation of the landfill.”

After Jablonski rendered his decision on Sept. 30, Kearny officials said the township still has several remaining legal claims against the NJSEA, including a six-year accounting of landfill revenues and surplus funds, attorney’s fees and costs, and municipal fines arising from violations at the landfill.

Mayor Alberto Santos praised the court ruling, saying that it fully vindicates the town’s position that the NJSEA has "mismanaged" operations at the Keegan Landfill and created a health hazard with dangerous emissions of hydrogen sulfide, the source of the rotten egg smell.

“The state must now take the necessary actions to eliminate hydrogen sulfide emissions, which includes capping the landfill with an impermeable liner,” Santos said.

Santos added that there are worries the emissions at the landfill will continue, even in the wake of the court ruling.

“Construction waste can take up to 10 years to decompose,” the mayor stated. “That is why our community will continue our fight with the NJSEA, the NJDEP and Governor Phil Murphy.”

At the time, Santos said he was “uncertain” if the NJSEA would appeal the court’s decision.

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‘AN ISSUE AT LANDFILLS ACROSS THE STATE’

NJSEA representatives have maintained that the agency is doing all they can to control emissions at the landfill.

The NJSEA previously reached an administrative consent order with the NJDEP to create a monitoring system to detect hydrogen sulfide emissions at the landfill. The agency also agreed to construct a temporary gas collection and control system until a more permanent system can be built.

“Increased odors have been an issue at landfills across the region and the state, and the installation or expansion of gas collection and control systems has proven to be a successful engineering solution,” a spokesperson previously told Patch.

“A properly designed, implemented and maintained landfill gas collection and control system, such as the system at the Keegan Landfill, is considered the best engineering practice to address the situation,” he added.

“The NJDEP takes protection of public health and community concerns about hydrogen sulfide odors very seriously,” Commissioner Catherine McCabe said in July. “While hydrogen sulfide odors are likely to increase during the construction of this system, it is anticipated that, when complete, the system will assist in eliminating hydrogen sulfide odors from Keegan Landfill.”

According to the NJDEP, the state uses a “conservative” hydrogen sulfide regulatory threshold of 30 parts per billion averaged over a 30-minute period as measured at or beyond a landfill property line.

Exposure to low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in excess of the state’s 30-minute, 30 ppb standard has the potential to cause eye, nose, or throat irritation, headaches, and nausea. It may also cause difficulty breathing for some individuals with respiratory problems, such as asthmatics, NJDEP officials say.

While the “average” rate of emissions from Keegan Landfill recently measured below the state threshold, the facility has also seen spikes, officials said.

“Between May 15 and July 22, the average of hydrogen sulfide emissions from Keegan Landfill were between 0.96 ppb and 3.30 ppb, below the regulatory standard of 30 ppb over 30 minutes and below the Minimal Risk Levels observed by the New Jersey Department of Health, which means that the levels of hydrogen sulfide recorded to date are not known to cause adverse health effects. However, exceedances of the 30-minute, 30 ppb regulatory standard were detected on multiple occasions between 30.3 ppb and 828 ppb.”

The NJSEA has continued to monitor the situation at Keegan Landfill and make additional efforts to keep the stink under wraps, the agency stated on Oct. 28.

The NJSEA wrote:

“As part of this effort, we are working on the expansion of the gas collection and control system to the eastern side of the landfill. Presently horizontal collectors are installed and operating successfully on the western side of the landfill, as demonstrated by recent surface emissions monitoring data. We expect that installation of additional collectors on the eastern side will further reduce emissions with the goal of completely eliminating exceedances and off-site odors. Depending on design, permitting and material procurement, we are projecting a start date of mid-December for this work.”

The agency stated:

“Additionally, the NJSEA is working with vendors to have a product called Posi-Shell applied to the surface of the landfill. Posi-Shell is a combination of cement and water that adheres to the surface in what can be described as a thin layer of stucco. This hard shell will help to prevent gas from escaping from areas of the landfill that do not yet contain collectors and will enhance the ability of the installed gas collection and control system to collect and destroy the gas. Surface emissions monitoring will be used to target areas for application of Posi-Shell and to provide data for the design of the new horizontal collectors.”

That’s not all, the NJSEA continued:

“As part of our ongoing efforts to increase the effectiveness of the system, the inlet header section to the existing flare will be replaced next week in order to reduce headloss in the system and allow more vacuum to be applied to the collectors. This will allow more gas to be collected and directed to the flare. Hydroseeding of the sideslopes (except in the vicinity of the flare) will be completed in October. Importation and application of soil materials is ongoing. Soil is immediately placed over areas where odors or emissions are noticed by on-site personnel. The permanent, enclosed flare system has been selected and is undergoing fabrication. The enclosed flare permit application will be submitted to the NJDEP in November or early December. We expect to install the concrete foundation for the flare in November. The installation of the enclosed flare system is tentatively scheduled for early February 2020 and is dependent on the contractor’s schedule and the permitting process. The system design and implementation will include review to ensure the protection of wildlife.”

The agency concluded:

“The NJSEA remains committed to the proper closure of the Keegan Landfill and, as requested by the town, will be installing an impermeable geomembrane final cover system in accordance with NJDEP regulations and approvals when the landfill is closed and capped.”

‘YOU HAVE CREATED YOUR OWN DYSTOPIA’

Santos has offered scathing rebukes of the NJSEA’s statements, dismissing their presentations as “Orwellian newspeak.”

He’s challenged the agency’s claims that their new system is causing “significant reductions” in emissions, as well as a company official’s claim that the rotten egg odor is more of a “nuisance” than a health issue.

“You, the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, have created your own dystopia here, where if you repeat inaccuracies often enough, you think others will then believe that 2 +2 = 5,” Santos charged after a NJSEA meeting on Oct. 17.

Kearny town officials are also taking aim at state officials.

On Oct. 25, the township filed a lawsuit against the NJDEP, alleging the state violated the town’s rights under the Environmental Rights Act and the due process clause of the state and federal constitutions.

The lawsuit seeks to:

• “Enjoin the state DEP from issuing further permits to the NJSEA”
• “Order the state DEP to produce a certified accounting of the closure and post-closure escrow accounts for the Keegan Landfill and to immediately fund any deficiencies”
• “Order the state DEP to produce a schedule for the capping of the landfill with an impermeable liner”

“Of all people, the state should comply with its own laws,” Santos argued. “But year after year, the NJDEP renewed the NJSEA’s permit to operate the landfill on a temporary basis so as to evade the adequate funding of an escrow account for closure and post-closure costs, and to avoid being held accountable to the public through public hearings.”

“The DEP allowed the NJSEA to increase the maximum height of the landfill from 60 to 100 feet with no public review,” Santos said. “It allowed dumping at the site without adequate controls. The very state agency entrusted by law to protect our environment and our health failed to do just that by not enforcing the law against another state agency.”

Santos and Kearny officials have found an ally in the New Jersey Sierra Club, which has said that people living just a mile away from the Keegan Landfill are basically living in homes that smell like rotten eggs.

NJ Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said the landfill is a “toxic nightmare.”

“Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and Commissioner McCabe [recently] came out with several environmental lawsuits in ‘environmental justice communities,’” Tittel questioned on Monday. “Why aren’t they stepping in and stopping the NJSEA in Kearny?”

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