More Work To Start On Kessman Dump On Route 64

PATTERSON, NY — More remedial action will begin in March at the Superfund site that is the old Cross County Sanitary / Kessman Landfill on Cornwall Hill Road in Patterson, according to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

The 10-acre site, which includes 7.2 acres of landfill and 2.8 acres of low-lying wetland area, is listed as a Class "2" site in the State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites. A Class 2 site represents a significant threat to public health or the environment; action is required.

It is bordered by Great Swamp, a protected wetland, and Metro-North Railroad property to the east, residential properties to the west, undeveloped land to the north, and a commercial property to the south.

This $4 million remedial construction project is expected to last about 10 months.

It's just the latest work in the saga of the Kessman dump, which has been under investigation, litigation and/or remediation since 1974, according to Historic Patterson. Unlike the town dump across the street, in the 1960s and 70s "the Kessman dump was utilized by a Westchester firm known as Cross County Sanitation Company, and became controversial due to the nature of the waste that was dumped there, and because much of the waste was coming from outside Putnam County."

Landfill capping to stop all the toxic seepage was completed in September 1996, but the DEC continued to monitor the site. PCBs were first detected in wetland sediment in 2003, and contamination has been found at depths of up to 4 feet below the sediment surface.

The spring cleanup will involve digging out sediments contaminated with PCBs, repair of the disturbed landfill cap, and full restoration of the affected area of the wetland as a habitat for the surrounding wildlife population.

Perimeter air monitoring will take place to make sure that dust and PCBs are not migrating from the site at a level that would cause health concerns, DEC officials said.