Sidney Landfill

Overview

Sidney Landfill is a 74-acre privately-owned former dump in Sidney, New York, Delaware County. It operated from 1964 to 1972 as a municipal and commercial waste disposal area. The EPA placed it on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in March 1989 after finding the site had been poorly managed, with inadequate waste compaction, poor daily covering, no supervision, and uncontrolled access.

EPA identified 87 contaminants of concern spread across soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment, and leachate. Heavy metals include arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, nickel, and zinc. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) include benzene, toluene, trichloroethene, and vinyl chloride. The site also contains pesticides such as DDT, chlordane, aldrin, and endrin, along with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and phthalates.

Cleanup is organized into three operable units covering soils and capping, groundwater, and sitewide oversight. Early actions included perimeter fencing and 80 warning signs. A 1995 Record of Decision called for four caps over the disposal areas and extraction of contaminated groundwater. Cap construction finished in 1999, and a nearby groundwater treatment system at the Richardson Hill Road Landfill Superfund site was found to be already capturing Sidney's contaminated groundwater effectively, so no separate treatment system was built at Sidney. An Explanation of Significant Differences issued in 2004 shifted the groundwater remedy toward monitored natural attenuation. Construction was completed in September 2004, and the site achieved sitewide ready for anticipated reuse status in July 2017.

Currently, human exposure is under control and groundwater migration is stabilized. Quarterly monitoring of groundwater wells, gas vents, and landfill caps continues. Five-year reviews have been completed in 2004, 2009, 2014, 2017, and April 2022. The most recent review found that current actions protect human health and the environment in the short term. It also found that additional monitoring wells and water-level data are needed to fully evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the groundwater collection system. The next five-year review is estimated for April through June 2027. The site has not yet been deleted from the NPL.

Community members with questions can contact the Community Involvement Coordinator. Site documents are available for in-person review at the EPA Superfund Records Center at 290 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY, or at the Sidney Memorial Public Library at 8 River Street, Sidney, NY.