Municipal Sanitary Landfill Authority
MSLA 1-D
1500 Harrison Avenue
Kearny Town, Hudson County
PI # 132232
Block: 285
Lot: 2
Fall 2009 Update
The MSLA 1-D Landfill is a 93.8 acre
site owned by the Town of Kearny
and New Jersey Department of
Transportation. The landfill is located at
1500 Harrison Avenue, near Exit 15 W on
the NJ Turnpike. The landfill was operated
by the Municipal Sanitary Landfill Authority
Landfill Leachate and Runoff (MSLA) during the 1970s and 1980s.
Under administrative order from New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP), the landfill ceased operations in
1982. However, because the landfill was not properly closed,
thousands of gallons of leachate contaminated with organic
compounds and metals discharge from the landfill into the adjacent
wetlands and Passaic River daily.
The DEP’s Site Remediation
Program is currently designing
measures to prevent the leachate
discharge as prescribed in the
Remedial Action Plan (RAP), which
include an impermeable cap,
subsurface barrier wall, gas
management system and leachate
collection system. This work has
been divided into several contracts.
Kearny Municipal Utility Authority
is currently constructing a leachate
force main and a leachate pump
station at the landfill, with DEP
funding.
SITE DESCRIPTION/RESOLUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS:
This site, also known as the MSLA 1-D Landfill, is located in a wetlands
area near the Passaic River and Exit 15W of the New Jersey Turnpike. The
Municipal Sanitary Landfill Authority (MSLA) operated the landfill during
the late 1970s and early 1980s. Records indicate that in addition to municipal
waste, approximately 1.5 million gallons of waste oil were deposited there.
Various industrial wastes were also reportedly disposed of in the landfill,
including pharmaceuticals, sewage sludges, asphalt sludges and insecticides.
NJDEP ordered the landfill to cease operations in 1982 because it reached
maximum allowable height and MSLA had failed to maintain the leachate
collection system. A soil cover was placed over the landfill at the time
of closure but the site was never properly capped or maintained. Since
disposal operations ceased, large volumes of leachate have routinely discharged
from the landfill into the surrounding wetlands and the Passaic River.
A private company installed a landfill gas recovery system at the site
in 1989 to capture the methane gas being generated by the waste fill for
use as an energy source. USEPA conducted a limited remedial investigation
at the site in 1990 that revealed the soil, ground water, surface water
and sediments at and near the landfill were contaminated with a variety
of organic and inorganic compounds and metals. NJDEP’s Remedial Response
Element plans to implement closure actions at this site to prevent the
release of methane from the waste fill and mitigate the impact of landfill
leachate on the environment. NJDEP is conducting a Remedial Design for
the following landfill closure measures: 1) installation of a subsurface
containment wall and leachate collection system to prevent leachate-contaminated
ground water from discharging to the surrounding areas; and 2) installation
of a solid waste-type impermeable cap to prevent infiltration of precipitation
and thereby minimize the generation of additional leachate. NJDEP expects
to complete the Remedial Design for the landfill closure measures in 2003.
NJDEP has also provided funding for the Kearny Municipal Utilities Authority
to design a pump station and force main to convey leachate from the landfill
to a sewage treatment plant for disposal.
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Alternate Format
Community Relations Coordinator: Mindy Mumford (609) 777-1976
Landfill Leachate and Runoff |
Staging Area |
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