Toxic Plume Nears Pristine Pond

By Trish Anderton on Thursday, July 17, 2003.

listen:

Officials in the North Country town of Columbia are keeping a nervous eye on pollution leaking from an old landfill in nearby Colebrook. The toxic chemicals are taking an underground course toward a pristine fishing pond. Officials in Colebrook say they want to cap off the landfill to stop the leakage, but they can't afford to. Colebrook isn't alone in facing this issue. There are 49 other unlined, uncapped landfills around the state. NHPR's Trish Anderton reports.

TO GET TO LIME POND IN COLUMBIA, YOU HAVE TO DRIVE A GOOD WAYS DOWN A NARROW, DIRT ROAD. COLUMBIA SELECTMAN ERIC STOHL CAREFULLY MANEUVERS HIS BLACK GMC PICKUP DOWN IT. THIS IS A FAMILIAR ROUTE FOR HIM - STOHL USED TO BE A FISH AND GAME OFFICER.

001 110 you're gonna see some curves up here, it's fairly interesting if you're driving a fish truck

FINALLY STOHL PULLS UP NEXT TO A PRIVATE FISHING CAMP. IT'S A WEEKDAY, AND THERE'S NOBODY AROUND. THE POND SHIMMERS UNDER A MOSTLY CLOUDY SKY. EVEN IN THIS LIGHT IT'S A BEAUTIFUL SPOT. BUT STOHL SAYS UNDER THE RIGHT CONDITIONS, LIME POND TAKES ON AN UNUSUAL GLOW.

probably if the sun was just right you could look down and see the bottom of the pond, big white splotches, and that's nothing but pure lime. Farmers used to come up here, they'd pull the boards out of the dam, drain the pond, dredge the lime out, and take it and put it on their fields

CEDAR TREES LIKE THE SWEET SOIL. STOHL SAYS THE WHITE CEDARS SURROUNDING THE POND ARE AMONG THE OLDEST IN NORTH AMERICA. FOR DECADES, LIME POND HAS BEEN A QUIET RETREAT FOR FLY FISHERMEN. BUT NOW, IT'S AT THE HEART OF A STRUGGLE OVER TOXIC WASTE. A HIGHLY CONCENTRATED PLUME OF CHEMICAL SOLVENTS IS ADVANCING UNDERGROUND TOWARD THE POND FROM THE FORMER COLEBROOK LANDFILL. THE POLLUTION HAS TRAVELED 800 FEET IN THE COURSE OF SEVERAL YEARS. IT'S NOW JUST 1200 FEET AWAY. STOHL WORRIES THE CHEMICALS COULD AFFECT EVERYTHING FROM THE OSPREY CIRCLING OVERHEAD TO THE VALUE OF THE LAND.

We're concerned about all of it, wildlife and the property and the water .. I mean, look at this. We don't want this hurt.

THE PROBLEM STARTED HERE.

Sneak in landfill amb

COLEBROOK SELECTMAN LAURENCE RAPPAPORT GETS OUT OF HIS CAR AT THE FORMER LANDFILL. THE AREA WAS CLOSED OVER WITH CLAY A FEW YEARS AGO; NOW IT'S COVERED WITH GRASS AND TREES. NONETHELESS, WHEN IT RAINS, WATER PERCOLATES DOWN, PICKS UP A VARIETY OF CHEMICALS - ACETONE, TOLUENE AND METHYL ETHYL KETONE - AND CARRIES THEM OUT OF THE DUMP. RAPPAPORT SAYS THE TOWN IS CONCERNED.

Nobody's saying ignore the problem. But we have to find a way to do this that's affordable.

THE TOP OF THE LANDFILL IS FAIRLY FLAT. STATE ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN PRESSING THE TOWN TO RESHAPE THE HILL SO IT SHEDS WATER BETTER, AND PUT AN IMPERMEABLE PLASTIC COVER ON IT. BUT THAT WOULD COST 2-MILLION DOLLARS OR MORE. RAPPAPORT SAYS THE TOWN IS FACING UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC TIMES. IT'S LOST HUNDREDS OF JOBS IN RECENT YEARS. AND IT'S ALREADY REELING FROM SOME MAJOR EXPENSES.

07 we just spent 6 million on school. State wants us to develop third muni well. The hydrological engineers say we shd expect to pay probably a million, million and a half. // Where are we going to get all this money to do this work?

RECENTLY THE TOWN THOUGHT IT HAD HIT ON THE PERFECT SOLUTION. A WASTE COMPANY IN VERMONT OFFERED TO CAP THE LANDFILL FOR FREE. BUT THERE WAS A HITCH. THE COMPANY WANTED TO BRING IN TONS OF ADDITIONAL SOLID WASTE FOR THE RESHAPING. AFTER ALL, THE REASONING WENT, SINCE THEY WERE INSTALLING AN IMPERMEABLE BARRIER THE EXTRA MATERIAL WOULDN'T MATTER. THE PLAN HAD WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FROM LOCAL POLITICIANS, INCLUDING COLUMBIA'S ERIC STOHL.

I was of opinion Colebrook had good plan and everyone was on board.

BUT STATE ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICIALS WERE EMPHATICALLY NOT ON BOARD. PHIL O'BRIEN IS DIRECTOR OF WASTE MANAGEMENT FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE'S DEPARMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES OR DES.

59 129 obviously you're adding more now to an already dirty landfill, which in my view doesn't pass the straight-face test.

O'BRIEN ARGUES ADDING MORE WASTE WOULD ONLY OPEN THE TOWN UP TO
LAWSUITS. HE SAYS IT WOULD BE AN ESPECIALLY BAD MOVE AT THIS LANDFILL,
BECAUSE THE CONCENTRATION OF TOXIC CHEMICALS IS ALREADY OFF THE SCALE - IT'S A THOUSAND TIMES HIGHER THAN DES NORMALLY ENCOUNTERS.

It's not a marginal call, we're not talking about a little bit over or under the standard, we're talking about what's generally referred to as an order of magnitude difference in the level of contamination. That makes it hard with any conscience to say yeah, let's go ahead, it's okay.

O'BRIEN SAYS HE'S SYMPATHETIC TO COLEBROOK'S FINANCIAL SITUATION. BUT HE SAYS THE TOWN HAS TO MOVE FORWARD. COLEBROOK ISN'T ALONE IN FACING THIS ISSUE. THERE ARE 49 OTHER UNLINED, UNCAPPED LANDFILLS AROUND THE STATE. 7 ARE NOW IN THE PROCESS OF BEING CAPPED. O'BRIEN HOPES TO SEE THE REST OF THEM FINISHED WITHIN A FEW YEARS.

69 04 it varies obviously bc towns get ready at diff rates and paces but it seems to be the annual closure rate is ten or eleven a year.

THE TOWN HAS SET ASIDE 900-THOUSAND DOLLARS TOWARD CAPPING THE DUMP.
THE STATE WILL CHIP IN 20-PERCENT OF THE COST. DES HAS GIVEN COLEBROOK UNTIL NEXT YEAR TO COME UP WITH A NEW PLAN. MEANWHILE THE CHEMICALS ARE STILL MOVING AT AN UNKNOWN RATE TOWARD LIME POND.

FOR NHPR NEWS I'M TA