BATAVIA LANDFILL
BATAVIA, GENESEE COUNTY, NEW YORK
The Batavia Landfill is a National Priorities List (NPL) site in a rural part of Genesee County, about three miles from Batavia, New York. Commercial and industrial wastes were accepted at the site until operations ceased in 1980. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and metals have been found in on-site samples of groundwater, subsurface soil, surface water and sediment. Site contaminants, primarily VOCs, have been found in off-site groundwater samples from private residential wells, a trailer park well and a municipal well. A preliminary health assessment was completed by the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) in 1989, under a cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Exposure pathways of concern include ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact with site-related contaminants in drinking water from private residential wells and municipal wells and the accidental ingestion and/or inhalation of contaminated soil by area residents, particularly children, because site access is unrestricted.
Community health concerns include the potential for contamination of the Village of Oakfield's municipal wells and the potential health risks to local residents currently using contaminated residential wells.
The site poses a public health hazard because of past and continuing exposures to site specific volatile organic chemical contaminants in drinking water including methylene chloride, trichloroethene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane. ATSDR's Health Activities Recommendation Panel (HARP) has determined that people exposed to VOCs in private water supplies should be considered for inclusion to the NYS DOH registry of persons exposed to VOCs in drinking water, which is currently being developed. There are insufficient data to determine if air is contaminated with methane and other site-related chemicals at levels which could present a public health hazard. The potential for methane to migrate and collect inside nearby residences and hence present an explosive hazard should be evaluated, site access should be restricted and sampling of on-site monitoring wells and the Village of Oakfield's water supply wells should continue.
In cooperation with the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will evaluate the public health significance of this site. More specifically, ATSDR and NYS DOH will evaluate the potential for human exposure to site contaminants associated with past, present and future activities at and near the site and will recommend follow-up health actions as appropriate. ATSDR is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Atlanta, Georgia, and is authorized by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 to conduct public health assessments at hazardous waste sites which are listed on the National Priorities List (NPL), also known as Superfund.
A. Site Description and History
The Batavia Landfill site occupies between 30 and 35 acres in a rural setting, about three miles west-northwest of the City of Batavia in the Town of Batavia, Genesee County, New York (see Figure 1, Appendix A). The site is bound to the north and portions of the east and west by the Galloway Swamp, which is a protected wetland; to the east by the Town of Batavia's sanitary landfill; to the south by Harloff Road and the New York State Thruway; and to the west by agricultural land. The fill limits of the Batavia Landfill have not been defined and may extend beyond the property boundaries.
The site was purchased by the Town of Batavia in 1967 for use as the town's municipal landfill. Beginning in 1968, residents of the City of Batavia, commercial and industrial facilities, and commercial haulers were permitted to dispose of waste at the site. The records indicating the type, quantity, and location of wastes that were disposed at the landfill during its twelve years of operation are limited. However, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) has indicated that the following types of industrial wastes were disposed at the site: chromium hydroxide sludge; magnesium sludge; paint and paint waste; ink; lubricating and cutting oils; and spent solvents. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) identified seven potentially responsible parties (PRPs) as having disposed of hazardous wastes at the site. The PRPs include the City of Batavia, the Town of Batavia, the Doehler-Jarvis Corporation (a former division of NL Industries, the Unisys Corporation (formerly Burroughs Corporation), Eaton Corporation (formerly Trojan Industries), GTE Sylvania Corporation, and R.E. Chapin Industries. Other industrial wastes may have come from other undocumented sources. In December 1979, the NYS DEC cited the Town of Batavia for violating the conditions of its operating permit for the landfill and operations ceased in 1980.
A waste pit area, reportedly filled with chromium hydroxide and magnesium wastes in 55 gallon drums, is on the east side of the site. Disposal records for the period between January of 1979 and January of 1980, indicate that about 300 drums of chromium hydroxide and 20 drums of magnesium wastes were disposed in the waste pits. Additional drummed wastes may have also been dumped in the pit area, but the total quantities are unknown because of the limited record keeping.
The other documented disposal area is in Galloway Swamp along an embankment on the northeast side of the site. In 1982, thirty-eight 55-gallon drums were removed from this area of the site and the contents of some of the drums were sampled. The drums contained volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and metals.
Additional drums were found in three other areas of the site. Several drums were found in the back of an abandoned pick-up truck and on the ground next to this truck in the center of the site. Drums were found scattered in and adjacent to Galloway Swamp along the western boundary of the site. Drums were also found scattered and partially covered with soil in the north central part of the site.
Environmental investigations began in 1980, with the installation of three monitoring wells and sampling of groundwater at the site by the Town of Batavia. Iron and phenols exceeded New York State groundwater standards at that time. Additional on-site groundwater samples were collected from the same monitoring wells in 1982 with similar results.
The Remedial Investigation (RI) began in 1985 with the collection of on-site subsurface soil, waste, groundwater, surface water and sediment samples. Elevated levels of VOCs and metals were detected in all media. The results of the RI are included in the draft RI report which was issued by Goldberg-Zoino Associates of New York (GZA) in April, 1989 and revised by GZA Geo Environmental of New York in June, 1991. The environmental contamination data collected during the remedial investigation are summarized in Appendix B, Tables 1-5.
Groundwater from off-site locations has been sampled periodically since 1982. In 1985, groundwater samples were collected by US EPA from private residential wells, from a well serving a trailer park and from municipal wells serving the Village of Oakfield. Some of the wells had levels of iron, VOCs and total phenols which exceeded New York State groundwater standards in place at that time. Only one private residential well had elevated levels of VOCs which prompted the NYS DEC to request that US EPA supply alternate potable water for the residence (Appendix C). However, the US EPA, with concurrence from the ATSDR, responded that the results did not meet the criteria for a removal action under CERCLA (Appendix D). The homeowner proceeded to install a new well about 35 feet deeper than the contaminated well and placed a charcoal filter unit on the new well.
The NYS DOH has collected off-site groundwater samples periodically since 1989. Groundwater samples have been collected from private wells, a trailer park and the Village of Oakfield municipal wells. The samples were analyzed for VOCs. Since 1989, only one sample taken from a private well south of the site contained VOCs at levels exceeding NYS DOH's drinking water standards for public water supplies. Confirmatory samples have not shown VOCs to be present above NYS DOH drinking water standards. However, contaminant levels in at least fourteen residential wells have been present consistently at and below New York State Maximum Contaminant Level (MCLs) for VOC's.
In June 1989, a preliminary health assessment was issued for the site. It was prepared by the NYS DOH under a cooperative agreement with ATSDR.
In the spring of 1991, additional on-site groundwater and sediment samples were collected to determine the extent of metal contamination at the site. These data are included in the revised draft Remedial Investigation report issued by GZA in July, 1991. Also, a surficial drum removal action was completed in October, 1991. A total of 632 drums (mostly empty) were removed from the site and transported to permitted facilities for disposal.
B. Actions Implemented During the Health Assessment Process
NYS DOH has performed community health education in the past for those persons exposed to contaminants in their drinking water. These health education activities included providing those residents whose water supplies were sampled by NYS DOH with copies of the analytical results and an explanation of the findings as well as information about the continued use of their water supply. Additionally, NYS DOH has performed community health education during past public meetings regarding use of the Village of Oakfield's public water supply.
On October 17, 1985, a site visit was conducted by William Gilday of NYS DOH and a representative of the Genesee County Department of Health (GC DOH). The findings from the site visit are:
Additional visits to the site area to collect groundwater samples were performed by NYS DOH in May 1989, August 1991, October 1991, and January 1992. Other than the removal of about 632 drums from the landfill surface in October of 1991, no significant changes to the site conditions have occurred since the 1985 site visit.
D. Demographics, Land Use, and Natural Resource Use
The Batavia Landfill is in a rural part of the Town of Batavia, Genesee County, about three miles west-northwest of the City of Batavia. NYS DOH has estimated, from the 1990 Census, that 300 people live within 1 mile of the Batavia Landfill. The population within 1 mile of the site is 96 percent white and 4 percent black. The site is located within census tract 9504.00 in which 6.6 percent of the population is under 5 years of age, 23.8 percent is 5-19 year of age, 56.6 percent is 20-64 years of age and 13.0 percent is 65 years or older. The median household income in 1989 for this census tract was $29,374 with 4.8 percent of the families having income below the poverty level.
About 85 percent of the land in the Town of Batavia is used for agricultural purposes or is occupied by woodlands, water and wetlands. The remaining 15 percent is used for public, residential or commercial/industrial purposes. The Galloway Swamp, a protected wetland, borders the north and portions of the east and west sides of the site. The Town of Batavia's sanitary landfill is to the east of the site and active agricultural land is to the west. Harloff Road and the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) border the site to the south.
Groundwater is used as a source of drinking water by the Village of Oakfield, City of Batavia and private residences near the site. The Village of Oakfield municipal wells which supply potable water for 2,000 people, are about one mile northwest of the landfill. The City of Batavia municipal wells are 4.5 miles southeast of the landfill and serve 16,700 people. All residents near the site, including the nearby trailer park, use groundwater as their drinking water source. The Tonawanda Creek is about one mile south of the landfill and, at that location, can be used for fishing, fish propagation and swimming.
NYS DOH has not evaluated health outcome data specific for the Batavia Landfill site or the Town of Batavia. However, NYS DOH maintains several health outcome data bases which could be used to generate site specific data if warranted. These data bases include the cancer registry, the heavy metals registry, the congenital malformations registry, the occupational lung disease registry, vital records (birth and death certificates), and hospital discharge information.
In a public meeting held on July 21, 1987, regarding the Village of Oakfield's public water supply, community residents expressed the following concerns:
During the private well sampling by NYS DOH in 1991 and 1992, local residents expressed
concern about the quality of the groundwater which they use for drinking, cooking and bathing.
Specifically, they were concerned about the type of contamination and the concentrations in off-site groundwater, the potential health risks associated with exposure to the contaminants, and the
possibility of being supplied with public water. These concerns will be addressed in the Public
Health Implications (Community Health Concerns Evaluation) section of this public health
assessment (PHA).
