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EPA to Review Cleanup Progress at BFI Rockingham Landfill Superfund Site

Release Date: 05/11/04
Contact Information: Contact: Alice Kaufman, EPA Community Affairs Office, (617) 918-1064

For Immediate Release: May 11, 2004, Release # 04-05-07

Boston--The United States Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it is reviewing the performance of cleanup technologies in place at the BFI Rockingham Landfill Superfund Site on U.S. Route 5 (Missing Link Road) in Rockingham, Vermont. A community meeting will be held tonight at the Hit or Miss Club on Missing Link Road at 7:00 pm.

This review, called a five-year review, is a comprehensive evaluation of the site remedy which will include an evaluation of the results of the ongoing sampling and monitoring activities to assess the performance of the cleanup systems. EPA will also talk with local officials and citizens to gain a better understanding of local concerns.

The review team will evaluate the information gathered and then make a determination as to whether the remedy is protective or not protective of public health and the environment. After completion of the these activities, EPA will issue a Five-Year Review Report summarizing the findings with respect to the site. EPA performed an initial five year review for the BFI Rockingham Landfill in 1999. At that time, EPA determined that the cleanup was protective of human health and the environment.

Industrial wastes were disposed of at the 17-acre BFI Rockingham Landfill, also known as the Disposal Specialists, Inc. Landfill, during the late 1960's and 1970's. Approximately 1.2 million cubic yards of solid waste were disposed of in the landfill during its operation from 1968-1991. The site was listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) as a Superfund site on October 4, 1989. Several private residential drinking water wells were contaminated and now receive water from an alternative water supply.

EPA began the investigation of the site in 1992. In 1993, EPA constructed a multi-layer landfill cap and expanded the active gas collection and treatment system, which was completed in 1995.
Under oversight by EPA and the Vermont Agency for Natural Resources, BFI continues to operate and maintain the landfill cap, leachate collection system, gas collection and treatment system, and monitors groundwater. Land use restrictions for the property will prevent future use of the landfill in any way that would negatively impact the cleanup. EPA’s five year review process ensures that the cleanup systems remain protective of public health.

More information about cleanup activities at the site may be found on the EPA New England web site at: www.epa.gov/region1/superfund/sites. EPA technical reports and documents are available for public review in the site information repository located at Rockingham Free Library, 65 Westminster Street, Bellow Falls, Vermont 05101 and at the EPA New England Records Center, One Congress Street, Boston, MA 02114 (617) 918-1440.

Related Information:
Rockingham BFI Landfill
Long-Term Cleanups
Superfund in New England