Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Kelly Run Sanitation Incorporated in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Site Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Land Reuse
- Site Responsibility
Cleanup Status
On January 24, 2012, EPA issued a Final Decision and Response to Comments (Final Decision) to Kelly Run Sanitation, Inc. (Facility). The Final Decision establishes the following remediation requirements for protection of human health and the environment:
- Operation, maintenance and inspection of the landfill caps
- Monitoring of the groundwater, surface water and leachate
- Operation and maintenance of the leachate detection and collection system
- Operation and maintenance of the existing groundwater remediation system
- Compliance with and maintenance of institutional controls that restrict certain land and groundwater uses at the entire Facility.
The requirements of the Final Decision are being implemented under the Facility’s Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP)-issued Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Post-Closure Permit and Municipal Solid Waste Operating Permit.
The Facility continues to pump and treat leachate and impacted groundwater from the old hazardous waste portion of the landfill (referred to as the “Western Disposal Area”); a closed industrial waste disposal area (referred to as the “Old Waste Area”); leachate from two closed municipal waste landfills (referred to as “Phase I and II Landfills”); and leachate from a permitted operating municipal waste landfill (referred to as the “Phase III Landfill”). Groundwater in the Benwood Limestone that has been impacted from the Western Disposal Area and the Old Waste Area is pumped to on-site collection facilities. Collected leachate and groundwater is discharged via sewer to the Elizabeth Borough Municipal Authority Wastewater Treatment Facility for treatment. Kelly Run Sanitation completed a leachate removal enhancement effort in August, 2001.
Kelly Run submitted a PADEP post-closure permit renewal application in 2003 seeking to revise its groundwater and surface water monitoring program and establish new cleanup criteria based on Pennsylvania’s Act 2 program. The permit was renewed on August 14, 2006 to establish new remediation standards, revise methane monitoring and collection requirements and eliminate old leachate management units.
Groundwater sampling analyses indicates the presence of benzene in the Benwood Limestone aquifer at levels above state maximum contaminant levels. The extent of groundwater contamination is known and is being controlled by leachate collection and groundwater pumping. The contamination is localized under the five disposal areas. Surface water samples show no detectable levels of organic contamination. The Facility operates a groundwater treatment and monitoring system to maintain and document compliance with dringing water standards (MCLs) at and beyond the Facility boundary.
Institutional controls are being implemented under the Facility’s PADEP-issued RCRA Post-Closure Permit and Municipal Solid Waste Operating Permit.
Site Description
Interactive map of Kelly Run Sanitation Incorporated, Elizabeth, PA
View larger mapLocated approximately two miles south of the town of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, Kelly Run Sanitation occupies 260 acres situated in a large gully that has been partially strip mined along much of the side slopes. The Facility is surrounded by forested areas and pasture lands to the immediate north and south, with residential and commercial property to the east and west. Since 1968, the Facility has operated a solid waste landfill. From 1975 to 1984, hazardous wastes were co-disposed with the solid wastes in the 35 acre Western Disposal Area. The Western Disposal Area and the 17 acre Old Waste Area have been capped and closed under the PADEP oversight. Sampling of the groundwater and surface water is performed on a regular basis as required by the PADEP hazardous waste post closure permit, the PADEP municipal waste permit. Currently the facility accepts only solid municipal and residual waste for disposal in the permitted landfill. The Consent Decree expired and obligations under that Decree have been incorporated into the PADEP post closure permit.
Contaminants at this Facility
The Facility’s Post-Closure Permit and Solid Waste Permit prohibit any use of the Facility, other than as a municipal landfill, while the Phase 3 Area is operated as a municipal landfill. The permits also impose operation, maintenance and monitoring requirements on the entire Facility. As part of the post-closure care and operating requirements in those permits, the Facility conducts quarterly groundwater monitoring to assess releases from the disposal areas and maintains the integrity and protectiveness of the landfill caps.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional controls include:
- Operation, maintenance and inspection of the landfill caps
- Monitoring of the groundwater, surface water and leachate
- Operation and maintenance of the leachate detection and collection system
- Operation and maintenance of the existing groundwater remediation system
- Compliance with and maintenance of institutional controls that restrict certain land and groundwater uses at the entire Facility.
Land Reuse Information at this Facility
The site is under continued use.
Site Responsibility at this Facility
RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility have been conducted under the direction of EPA Region 3.