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"Our children and our children's children will be tending this lethal garden, forever."

In 1997, students of Middletown High School in upstate New York produced a 54 minute documentary about organized crime, political corruption, and the illegal dumping of hazardous waste in the region's landfills.  The students and their teacher have moved on, but the toxic chemicals remain where they were poured, slowly and silently leaching into the groundwater.

Almost 25 years after the high school research project first started, this website reunites some of those who collaborated on Garbage Gangsters and Greed to discuss unresolved and ongoing questions raised by the documentary, as well as broader concerns about the environment, politics, public education, journalism, and civic responsibility.

The Orange County Landfill is slipping into the Cheechunk Canal

9/13/2014

8 Comments

 
On September 8, 2014, I went with a friend to check on conditions at the Orange County Landfill and the Cheechunk Canal, just as we have done several times in the past.  And as we expected, leaching and sloughing have worsened since our last visit.

The Orange County Landfill opened in 1974, taking in the county’s municipal garbage and more until it closed in 1993.  The 75 acre landfill is situated on top of the county’s largest aquifer, and right in between the old Wallkill River channel, and the Cheechunk, where we have made all of our observations.

The Canal was built in the early 1800s to drain the upper Wallkill River Valley and thereby create thousands of acres of rich farmland.  The black dirt region still depends on the Cheechunk for drainage.

In 1992 black dirt farmer and landfill neighbor, John Pahucki gave my students from Middletown High School and me our first tour along the Cheechunk.

“You see them banks down here?  Well in spring of course, the river gets higher.  You get the spring thaw, snow, although we haven’t had it for the last couple of years.  But you don’t see that on the other side do you?  If you look back there farther, on the other side where the trucks were, both banks are equal on both sides.  But not around here, not at the landfill.  If you go past the landfill it’s okay, but here it has been pushed out.”

“There’s a little road on the other side, and that is what they contend is doing all of this pushing.  How many vehicles have you seen go by on that road since we have been here?  That’s what you’ll find, one a day, but they are blaming the heavy equipment.  There’s no bulldozers here.  They have a problem.  The road is cracking.”

We crossed the Canal to get close to the landfill for a better look.

“You see them trees being pushed right out, and if you look, it’s coming right from the landfill.  Look between them trees.  Look at how it is being pushed out.  It narrows right up.  Take a picture of that tree.  See how it’s leaning back?  They’re leaning back.  I tried to explain to you, if you just think about it.  If this tree were being washed out, the roots, the tree would fall in.  Why is it leaning back?  Because the dirt underneath it is being pushed out.”
 
Our next recorded visit was in the summer of 2010.  Unfortunately, most of John Pahucki’s assessments had proven accurate.  The channel had become further pinched off.  It appeared that the clay banks were being pushed outward, the shelf sloughing toward the river.  Trees were bent over the wrong way.  Monitoring wells were bent too. Leachate was seeping out of the banks.

We returned again in the spring of 2012, before the vegetation grew thick, so that we could observe the landfill from the other side of the canal.  There was continued evidence of sloughing and leaching.

We noted that the side of the river opposite the landfill had been clear cut, a controversial effort made on behalf of black dirt farmers to open up the clogged channel, increase the drainage, and thereby end the frequent floods that plague the region.  Opponents fear that such actions could further destabilize the landfill.

Our most recent visit to the Canal this week made it clear that the problems where the landfill meets the Cheechunk are rapidly mounting.  The laws of nature are followed without fail.  Gravity continues to pull the heavy mass of garbage towards the river.  Water continues to run its way over and through the clay and garbage, loosening and pushing; eroding and leaching.  

The laws of New York and the United States, however, have not been adhered to as closely.  Both our county and state governments have been well aware for many years of the dangers posed by the landfill to this stretch of the Cheechunk as well as to nearly everything both up and down stream; from the black dirt farms of Pine Island all the way to Wallkill and New Paltz, then Kingston and the Hudson.  The State DEC and the County DPW know that dangerously high levels of highly toxic chemicals like ammonia and manganese have shown up in recent leachate samples.*  And they know that it will only get worse if something isn’t done.

Our government’s reluctance to face the problem squarely is almost understandable.  Who wants to ask the public for exorbitant amounts of money to repair old mistakes that they would rather forget?  But this enormous pile of garbage, red bag, and toxic waste is as much a part of our crumbling infrastructure as our tunnels and bridges.  We put it there.  We neglect it at our peril.
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*It should be noted that there is no established standard for manganese in class C streams.  However, the amounts of ammonia and arsenic found in the leachate seeps exceed accepted standards.

See also: Shouldn't this leachate be investigated?  And:  State slams Orange County on landfill

8 Comments
susan cleaver
9/13/2014 07:56:05 am

Great video!! Perhaps the powers to be should start to think about fixing the problem!

Reply
Tall Girls in Arkansas link
2/28/2021 02:57:17 am

Hello mate nice bblog

Reply
Carson link
3/11/2023 12:21:12 pm

This is disgusting and terrible. Good write up though.

Reply
Jennifer Nworie link
3/14/2023 06:51:06 pm

This can be detrimental to the health of humans and animals around, I hope the right authorities provide a solution to this menace maybe my recycling some of the waste products.

Insightful write up though.

Reply
check our service link
8/29/2023 09:07:26 am

The community section of this website is a gem! It's refreshing to see a platform where people can engage in meaningful discussions and share their experiences.

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check site link
9/19/2023 05:24:43 am

I'm bookmarking this for future reference.

Reply
Terrence Brown link
9/26/2023 12:52:54 pm

Both our county and state governments have been well aware for many years of the dangers posed by the landfill to this stretch of the Cheechunk as well as to nearly everything both up. I’m so thankful for your helpful post!

Reply
Dave Sims link
12/22/2023 10:00:04 pm

I recently read your blog post, "The Orange County Landfill is Slipping into the Cheechunk Canal," and I wanted to express my appreciation for bringing attention to this concerning issue.

The environmental impact of landfills is a critical topic that deserves our collective attention. Your article sheds light on the potential risks and consequences associated with the Orange County Landfill and its proximity to the Cheechunk Canal. The intersection of waste management and environmental preservation is a complex challenge, and your insights contribute to raising awareness about the urgency of addressing such issues.

As a concerned resident, I am eager to learn more about any ongoing efforts, initiatives, or advocacy work aimed at mitigating the environmental impact and preserving the Cheechunk Canal. Additionally, if there are ways for the community to get involved or support positive change, please share those details.

Thank you for your commitment to environmental stewardship and for keeping the public informed about issues that impact our local ecosystems. I look forward to staying updated on developments related to this important matter.

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    About this site

    This blog and website are a collaborative effort of Fred Isseks and any former students and present day friends who would like to help.
    Fred taught English, video production, and journalism at Middletown High School, and courses at Orange County Community College, Long Island University, and New York Institute of Technology. 
    He earned a Ph.D. in communications from the European Graduate School
    .
    You can contact Fred either through comments on the blog or by email at [email protected]
    or at (845) 741-2119

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