Residents traveling North out of town over the past week may have noticed some work taking place at the superfund site, formerly known as the Tuxedo Dump. It appears as though the fenced in enclosures are being disassembled and removed. What does this mean? Have clean-up operations been completed?? Not exactly.

According to the DEC, the drums and fenced-in enclosures are being removed and replaced with 6 or 7 wind turbine ventilators. The drums that are being removed contained activated charcoal with electric blowers that were designed to release landfill gases (primarily methane and hydrogen sulfide) when detected.  These blowers were not dependable, particularly in the winter and hot stretches during the summer when the compressors would fail or the power would go out.

In addition, the fence fabric on the cages surrounding the barrels trapped the gasses and held them in.  The wind turbines are an environmentally friendly solution, as they use no electricity and operate in any weather condition provided there is a slight breeze.  In addition, the elimination of the fencing will allow the vented gases to dissipate quickly and more effectively.  The ventilators are 10” in size and are installed on posts with concrete bases. They have sensor mechanisms, which take monthly gas measurements and transmit the information to the DEC.  Should high levels of gas be detected, the DEC would take appropriate action. 

Methane gas, which is highly flammable and has the ability to spread underground from structure to structure, is of particular concern however current monitoring has not revealed any high concentrations of gases.

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