Brookhaven to borrow $600,000 to add new cap to old landfill that turned creek orange

Brookhaven officials plan to borrow $600,000 to provide additional covering for a shuttered landfill in Holtsville that was blamed by a federal judge in a landmark ruling two decades ago for causing a nearby pond and creek to turn orange.

U.S. District Judge Frederick Block had ordered the town in 2001 to clean up Motts Pond and Motts Creek in North Patchogue after finding they had been despoiled by iron and manganese from the landfill, which closed in 1974.

Block wrote that while the contamination did not pose a health hazard to nearby residents, the polluted pond and creek were "visual blights." It was believed to be the first time a judge had considered aesthetics as part of a federal environmental law case.

Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said last week the new landfill cover will help limit discharges of leachate — contaminated moisture flowing from the landfill — that has caused discoloration in the pond and creek. Installation of the new cover, known as capping, is set to begin next month and should be completed by the end of April, Panico said.

The Brookhaven Town Board voted 7-0 on Jan. 8 to approve increasing a bond to pay for the capping project from $250,000 to $600,000. The initial $250,000 bond had been approved last year "to get the project going,” Panico said.

Capping the landfill is "a continual effort" to enhance the original cover installed when the landfill closed, he said in a telephone interview.

“This has been a progressive capping effort and we are going to get this done, evaluate the efficacy of the effort and work with our engineers to continue to make progress on controlling the runoff," Panico said.

1993 lawsuit

Dozens of North Patchogue residents had filed a federal lawsuit in 1993, alleging Brookhaven violated the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Clean Water Act by failing to prevent contamination from entering their neighborhood, about 2 miles downstream from the landfill.

The landfill, opened by the state in the 1930s and later transferred to the town, was little more than an open pit "into which anything was allowed to be dumped," Block wrote in his 2001 ruling. Testimony at the civil trial showed that residents dumped all manner of household junk at the landfill, including yard waste, sludge, trees, car parts, tires, televisions, batteries and boats.

Residents who testified at the trial described the creek as having the color and viscosity of tomato soup. Experts testified that ammonia from landfill leachate had rendered the creek uninhabitable for fish and other wildlife.

In ruling for the residents in 2001, Block said the pollution was "unacceptable," even if it posed no harm to humans.

"The working-class residents comprising the Holtsville community surrounding the pond and creek should not be treated as if aesthetics are irrelevant to the quality of their lives," Block wrote.

Block in 2004 approved a cleanup plan calling for dredging and filters to slow the spread of contamination. Cost estimates at the time ranged from $2 million to $15 million.

Lingering frustrations

The former landfill lies beneath what is now the town's Holtsville Ecology Site and Animal Preserve, former home of the town zoo. The zoo was closed last month following allegations that animals were abused and neglected, allegations denied by town officials, who cited budget reasons for shuttering the facility.

Some North Patchogue residents said last week  they remain frustrated by what they see as failed efforts to improve Motts Creek's water quality.

“The water’s still orange," said Rob McGinnis, 41, whose parents, Robert and Christine McGinnis, were among the 60 plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit. "They put some filtration things at the Holtsville Ecology Site … but it’s still the same. It’s got that orange and brown" color.

Panico said a biofilter installed in 2019 has "helped the situation" but conceded the creek remains discolored due to decades of oxidation caused by excessive deposits of iron and other metals.

"It looks like Mars," he said.

McGinnis, who lives on Cedar Street, which runs parallel to the creek, described the neighborhood as being otherwise beautiful and quiet and a great place to grow up.

“You think you have the best house on the block,” he said, recalling seeing the creek change color from the 1980s to the early 1990s. “All of a sudden, a few years later, it’s orange.”

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.