Landfill operator sues Monroe Township over who pays for new sewer line

MONROE - The decades-long dispute between the township and BFI Waste Systems of New Jersey over a closed municipal landfill and Superfund site has entered a new phase with the company suing the township in federal court over who will pay for an 8,000-foot force main sewer pipe to drain leachate from the landfill.

The 12-count 35-page lawsuit filed Jan. 6 asks that Monroe be ruled liable for an equitable share of BFI's costs for closing the landfill, maintaining it after the closure and any future costs, including the $5 million cost of the new sewer line.

BFI says in the lawsuit that its total cost to close and maintain the landfill "exceeds" $30 million.

Monroe has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. Court records show that Monroe was not not served with the lawsuit until Jan. 9.

Leachate is a contaminated liquid generated from water percolating through solid waste, in this case, the township landfill site, which accumulates contaminants when rainwater filters through the site.

The lawsuit focuses on plans developed after chemical odors were found to be coming into township homes from a sanitary sewer collection system. The affected Inwood Estates neighborhood is in the northeast part of the township, off Spotswood Englishtown Road and Lani Street, directly northeast of the landfill site on Matchaponix Avenue.

After finding that chemical odors were coming into homes in August and September 2020, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ordered BFI to cease leachate discharge into the sanitary sewer system pending an investigation.

BFI stopped discharging leachate into the sanitary sewer system on Sept. 23, 2020 and has been trucking leachate for off-site disposal, according to the DEP.

BFI studies determined that the odors were caused by a high flow rate of leachate over a long period of time due to a malfunctioning pump, according to the DEP.

To reintroduce the leachate into the sewer line, BFI replaced the pump and installed a drive to allow different flow rates for discharge, among other actions.

BFI proposed to reintroduce leachate at a much lower flow rate than previously discharged - 45 gallons per minute instead of 80 gallons per minute - with monitoring of pressure to detect increases that may result in odor issues, according to the DEP.

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According to the lawsuit, BFI and the DEP agreed in 2021 on a plan to reintroduce the leachate into the sewer, but Monroe "blocked" it, refusing to give BFI access to the sewer system.

Instead Mayor Steven Dalina proposed a dedicated force main pipe as a long-term solution to remove leachate from the landfill site directly to one of the township’s pumping stations. This type of pipe is a pressurized sewer pipe that uses a pump and is used where gravity is not enough to move liquid through a sewer line.

In the lawsuit, BFI alleges Monroe's "unwarranted and unreasonable" refusal to allow leachate discharges into the sewer system has "dramatically" increased BFI's costs from several hundred thousands of dollars a year to more than $9 million in 2021.

"Mornoe, rather than accepting its good fortune in having a responsible entity maintain and pay for a Superfund site for which it is jointly and severally liable, has instead taken actions to thwart BRI's operations and maintenance of the landfill," the lawsuit alleges.

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Monroe Township operated the 86-acre landfill from the mid-1950’s until 1968 when it was leased to Princeton Disposal Service for operation under a service contract with Monroe Township. Browning-Ferris Industries of South Jersey acquired Princeton Disposal Service in 1972 and operated the landfill until 1978.

In 1978, DEP ordered the landfill closed after leachate seeps were observed during the construction of homes on Lani Street.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed the site on the Superfund list in 1983.

After remedial measures were taken, EPA deleted the site from the Superfund list 1994.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Landfill operator sues Monroe Township over who pays for new sewer line