Pre-bidding for landfill soon to begin

AMENIA — The town has grappled with a contaminated landfill on Route 22 north of the Wassaic Train station for 10 years. On Thursday, Jan. 19, the Town Board talked about starting the process of soliciting bids for contractors to dredge the landfill. More than 10 companies are believed to have illegally dumped toxic material into the landfill. The towns of Amenia and Sharon, Conn., shared some responsibilities for the town landfill.“The really hard part was getting all the people who dumped in that landfill all to come to the table without going to court,” said Vicki Doyle, councilwoman. “We had to bring the companies to the table and they all contributed $1 million toward this recovery. We also had to purchase land we didn’t own and that has been a long hard irritating process. But we did it all without litigation, which is a miracle.” Some of the companies denied dumping into the landfill because they didn’t want to pay for the remediation since it’s a $10 to $12 million project, Doyle said. However the town was able to obtain $1million to cover legal costs.“Now the town has to pay, we now own all the property and we are going to have to bond that out and find out really what the costs are,” Doyle said. “We have just been guessing. It’s a Super Fund site, 75 percent will be reimbursed to the town of eligible costs. Out of a $10 or $12 million project the town is going to be responsible for $1 to $2 million.”Town Supervisor Bill Flood said the town is responsible for 25 percent of the cost to remediate the landfill. The town did receive a grant to cover some of the cost. Regardless, the taxpayers are responsible for paying the 25 percent of the project’s cost. The board is at the stage where they are getting construction companies to come and bid on doing the work. There will be a pre-bidding meeting Tuesday, Jan. 31, from 10 a.m. till noon at the Town Hall.“We are moving ahead, that’s a big improvement over many years with this being an ongoing issue,” Doyle said.After the entire landfill site has been remediated and capped it will eventually be turned into a park.

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