RvK Comments on Ossining Sewage Treatment

On March 27, Riverkeeper submitted comments on the renewal of the Ossining sewage treatment plant’s State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit. This treatment plant receives highly toxic and possibly radioactive landfill leachate from the old Croton Point landfill Superfund site. Up until the mid 1980’s, this landfill took in waste from all of Westchester County. Before it was closed, toxic puddles of leachate ran directly into the Hudson, while the surrounding marsh was full of garbage and debris.

Westchester County and others struck a deal with EPA which allowed them to pump leachate from the landfill to the Ossining treatment plant. The SPDES permit that Ossining wants to renew would require sampling for many of the toxic chemicals that are contained in the leachate—but only on a quarterly basis. Riverkeeper calls for more rigorous testing of the leachate and the discharges flowing from the plant into the Hudson.