News

Money for landfill monitoring in hands of governor

By Katie Farrell
Staff writer
Published: August 8, 2008

NEWBURYPORT — While Newburyport legislators have targeted $1 million of state funding for air quality monitoring and odor management at the landfill on Crow Lane, it will be up to the governor to release the money.

The item was included in an environmental bond bill passed by the Legislature last month. While the funding has been authorized to be spent, it must still be released by the governor's executive agencies.

Local legislators are hopeful that Gov. Deval Patrick will follow through on his pledge to residents living near the landfill to do what he can to help.

"When the governor visited Amesbury last month, he told the residents who live around the landfill and he told Sen. Baddour and I that he wanted to help with the landfill situation," state Rep. Michael Costello, D-Newburyport, said in a prepared statement. "This money is a financial resource that will enable the Patrick Administration to provide some help in the form of better monitoring and better mitigation measures."

Costello was out of town and not available for further comment yesterday.

Mayor John Moak said yesterday the funding would be used for odor mitigation after the landfill is closed.

Capping the landfill is the responsibility of its owner, New Ventures.

"Right now, we don't own the landfill," Moak said.

In an interview this week, Baddour, D-Methuen, said the funding request is a direct result of years of numerous phone calls and e-mails that described health problems and a "rotten egg" smell emitting from the landfill.

"Mike (Costello) and I worked together on it," Baddour said.

During a visit to the area last month, Patrick pledged to talk to the state Department of Environmental Protection and assured a group from Newburyport that everyone wants to see the landfill closed properly.

A group of abutters to the landfill attended Patrick's meeting in Amesbury, asking him to talk to the DEP about removing its "21E" designation on the landfill, which means the landfill is considered a contaminated site rather than a solid waste landfill. That designation means all parties who have dumped at the landfill are responsible for part of the cost of capping it.

Baddour said this week he has been in discussions with Patrick's secretary of environmental affairs, who told him the department is looking into the matter.

"The governor relayed the message to them," Baddour said.