Old Islip landfill still needs checkups

Islip's inglorious Sonia Road landfill in Brentwood has been given a clean bill of health -- almost.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has formally reclassified the site as "properly closed" but requiring continued site management -- long-term groundwater monitoring, perhaps for decades, to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of a landfill cap and gas collection system.

The 42-acre Islip Town-owned site, bounded on the south and east by residences and on the north and west by commercial development, operated from 1965 until 1977 when it was closed. It illegally accepted hazardous materials from 1973 to 1974.

In the late 1990s, an investigation found very low levels of contaminants in surface and subsurface soil, according to the DEC. Low levels of volatile organic compounds were found in the groundwater seeping from the site, DEC officials said. Low levels of soil vapor and explosive gas were also found there.

The measures to reduce the danger of pollutants to the surrounding areas were begun in the following years.

A DEC report to the town in recent weeks said the site "no longer represents a significant threat to public health and/or the environment."

The site will remain "under an active long term site management program," the report said.

"The Sonia Road landfill had been a threat to public health for decades," Supervisor Phil Nolan said. "I'm glad that the residents whose properties were threatened by the landfill can once again enjoy a safe environment."

The cost of remediating the site was about $12 million, with 75 percent of the cost reimbursed to the town under the state Environmental Quality Bond Act, said town environmental control commissioner Christopher Andrade.