Dewey Loeffel Landfill Case Study

The Dewey Loeffel Landfill, located in Rensselaer County of Upstate New York, was used and filled in between the years of 1952 and 1968. The site was used by companies in the area such as General Electric (GE), Bendix Corporation (now Honeywell International, Inc. [Honeywell]) and Schenectady Chemicals (now SI Group, Inc. [SI]). Around 46,000 tons of waste materials were put into this site for disposal. The waste includes everything from sludge and solids to industrial solvents and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Because of this landfill, the surrounding areas have been contaminated. Ground water has been infiltrated with volatile organic compounds and hazardous waste materials. The more serious issue is the contamination of nearby lakes.

The polluted lakes are surrounded by housing. These homeowners were more or less tricked into buying their houses in the 1980s and 1990s. None of the buyers were told that the water was polluted. Because of this and the fact that the contamination became common knowledge in the 2000s, they own homes that are extremely hard to sell. The values of the homes are extremely low and the owners have lot tons of money. Another issue the people face is the health damages. All the species of fish in the lakes are on the regional fish advisory published by the New York State Department of Health and the public is told not to eat them whatsoever. These advisories were put in place as warnings in 1980 when high levels of PCBs were first found in the lakes and surrounding groundwater. People’s pets are also a health concern. Dogs swim in the water and drink the water. When people pet their dogs they can become contaminated and bring the pollutants in to homes. Overall, people living near the lakes have many issues to be concerned about. Not to mention the constant risk of drinking water contamination. Monitoring is continuously going on and levels are pushing the limits. Living around the lakes is not ideal for anyone, but most people have been there for so long they have no