EPA proposes adding Brillo Landfill site in New York to Superfund list

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is adding 12 sites and proposing to add another five, including the Brillo Landfill. The site is an inactive hazardous waste disposal facility in Victory, New York, to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The federal NPL includes sites where releases of contamination pose significant human health and environmental risks.  

“No community deserves to have contaminated sites near where they live, work, play and go to school,” says Michael S. Regan, EPA administrator. “Nearly 2 out of 3 of the sites being proposed or added to the priorities list are in overburdened or underserved communities. The EPA is building a better America by taking action to clean up some of the most contaminated sites, protect community health and return contaminated land to safe and productive reuse for future generations.”  

Now closed, the Brillo Landfill accepted various industrial and sanitary wastes, paint and wastewater treatment sludge. As a result, it is contaminated with volatile organic compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls and metals like lead and mercury in numerous waste disposal units and surrounding soil. Further New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) investigations in 2021 found similar contamination and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the nearby wetlands, which border Little Sodus Creek.  

The EPA says it conducted a removal action to protect public health in June 2018, removing about 2,000 intact drums and drum carcasses, including 8,000 gallons of liquid waste and 782 tons of contaminated soil and other solid debris. However, the site still requires a long-term cleanup to address the remaining contamination.   

Groundwater sampling results from facility monitoring wells show site-related contaminants above federal and state groundwater standards. The NYSDEC has tested private drinking water wells within a one-mile radius of the site and has not identified impacts to these wells at this time. NYSDEC continues to monitor the groundwater for potential effects on these wells.   

"A proactive approach in addressing the lingering contamination at the former Brillo Landfill is needed to safeguard local wetlands and mitigate the potential impacts on private drinking water wells," says Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. "With this proposal, EPA is showing the Victory, New York community that historical contamination will not sit idle in their backyards and threaten their wetlands." 

The EPA says there are thousands of contaminated sites, from landfills, processing plants and manufacturing facilities, that exist and are untouched or improperly managed. 

The agency says President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill will accelerate its work to help communities clean up these contaminated sites with a $3.5 billion investment in the Superfund Remedial Program and reinstates the Superfund chemical excise taxes. The investment allows the EPA  to clear the backlog of the 49 contaminated sites, which had been awaiting funding to start remedial action.  

The Superfund cleanup program is credited for significant reductions in both birth defects and blood-lead levels among children living near sites and research has shown residential property values increase up to 24 percent within three miles of sites after cleanup.  

Further, thanks to Superfund cleanups, communities are now using previously blighted properties for various purposes, including retail businesses, office space, public parks, residences, warehouses and solar power generation. As of 2021, EPA has collected economic data on 650 Superfund sites. At these sites, 10,230 businesses are operating, 246,000 people employed, an estimated $18.6 billion in income earned by employees and $65.8 billion in sales generated by businesses.  

“New York State welcomes U.S. EPA’s proposed addition of the Brillo Landfill site and finalization of the Meeker Avenue Plume site to the Federal Superfund Program’s National Priorities List,” says Basil Seggos, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner. “Working collaboratively with DEC, our federal partners will deploy the best available science and resources to protect the Greenpoint and East Williamsburg communities by addressing the soil, soil vapor, and groundwater plume in the vicinity of Meeker Avenue, and continue the critical work of preventing potential exposure to the public.”