Brillo Landfill

Overview

Brillo Landfill is an inactive hazardous waste disposal facility in Victory, Cayuga County, New York. It accepted industrial and sanitary wastes from the 1960s through the 1980s, including materials from automotive electroplating facilities, wastewater treatment plants, and food production operations. Drums containing sludge and chlorinated solvents were stored and disposed of on the property during that period. The EPA placed the site on the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 2022, identifying it as one of the country's most seriously contaminated sites requiring federal cleanup action. One source notes the EPA proposed adding the site to the NPL in March 2025 and began a formal investigation in Summer 2025, which conflicts with other source information placing the NPL listing in September 2022 and the remedial investigation start in April 2024. Both sets of dates are present in the source materials and are noted here as stated.

Soil and sediment at the site contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), metals, and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). These are a broad family of man-made chemicals linked to various health concerns. The EPA currently has insufficient data to determine whether human exposures are under control or whether contaminated groundwater is migrating beyond the site.

Between June 2018 and April 2019, EPA removed roughly 2,018 drums in response to a request from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Workers recovered, overpacked, and shipped off-site approximately 7,944 gallons of liquid waste, 782 tons of contaminated soil, 520 cubic yards of debris, and 14 tons of other solids. Empty drums were crushed and removed. An initial site assessment was completed in May 2021, and a combined Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) for the entire site started in April 2024. That study will evaluate contamination levels and identify cleanup options. No cleanup remedy has been selected yet, and construction of remediation work has not begun.

Community members can contact the EPA directly with questions or concerns. The EPA has prepared a Community Involvement Plan and a site narrative explaining the site's history and the reasons for its NPL listing. Michael Basile serves as the Community Involvement Coordinator and is the primary point of contact for residents. Remedial Project Managers Josiah Johnson and Emily Wong handle the technical side of the cleanup and can also be reached through the EPA's New York office.