Student study sparks state creek test Agency investigates possible pollution leak into Normanskill
By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer First published in print: Wednesday, January 7, 2009
DUANESBURG — A student-led study into pollution possibly leaking into the Normanskill from a former town dump has sparked an investigation by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The study by the Esperance-based Schoharie River Center found elevated levels of bacteria and nitrates in the creek near the site of a orangish discharge from bedrock near the former town landfill at Van Patten Road.
"This is the first we have seen of this study and staff are currently reviewing it," said DEC Region Four spokesman Rick Georgeson on Tuesday. "However, as a result of this preliminary information, we have begun an investigation of this site to determine how the stream may be impacted by the closed landfill."
About 20 area high school students took part in the creek study, which was done between September and November. "The students will be very happy to hear that the state will be looking into this," said center Executive Director John McKeeby.
The 10-acre landfill was closed under state order in 1992 and capped off. Under a state-approved plan, liquid that flows through the landfill — a tainted substance called leachate — is collected in tanks that are to be pumped out routinely.
Elevated levels of E. coli and coliform bacteria found near the discharge site in the student study are consistent with leachate once exposed to air, and usually appears as an orange or brown liquid.
Georgeson said there no routine leachate monitoring at the Normanskill. There are four wells that monitor the groundwater on a quarterly basis.
McKeeby said some local residents have suspected for years that the landfill has been leaking into the creek, which feeds into the Watervliet Reservoir, a drinking water supply for about 40,000 customers in Watervliet and Guilderland. A test in December found no problem with water quality at the reservoir, the state Health Department said.
"We have gotten photographs from some residents that show this discharge into the creek since the early 1980s," said McKeeby. The student teams tested four different sections of the creek, two above the discharge location, one at the discharge and one downstream.
The Schoharie River Center (http://www.schoharierivercenter.org/research.htm) has sponsored student-run water protection projects that have been presented to the Hudson River Clean Water Congress each year since 2002.
Duanesburg Supervisor Rene Merrihew said she was surprised by the students' study results. "Last year, we paid out almost $22,000 for Adirondack Testing for them to look over our leachate tanks and the creek water," she said. "The results have been good. We get the same things with our quarterly engineering reports. I am kind of anxious to see what DEC does think."
CHICKEN TAKEOUT DUANESBURG — Barbecued chicken to enjoy while watching the Super Bowl will be available from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the VFW post, Cole Road and Route 7. Dinners are $7, takeout only.
An A-plus to that group of 20 area high students whose study last fall of a suspicious-looking and smelling stream flowing into the Normans Kill near the old Duanesburg landfill has captured the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s attention. The agency recently announced that, partly as a result of the students’ findings, it will conduct tests of the orangish, foul-smelling runoff into the stream, which flows into the Watervliet Reservoir in Guilderland, this summer. It will then compare the findings with records from the landfill to determine whether the discharge is contaminating the reservoir from which thousands of Capital Region homes get their drinking water. The students’ findings indicate there may be a problem: On water tests taken above the spot in the creek where the discharge entered, there were abundant signs of insect life; just below it, there were dramatically fewer. In addition, there were higher counts of E. coli and coliform bacteria — indicating sewage — just below the area of the discharge. Indeed, the findings are consistent with the checkered history of the landfill’s 1991 closure and subsequent leachate removal issues. While a DEC researcher downplayed the significance of the students’ findings, claiming their water sampling methodologies were suspect, he ............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00704
Barbecued chicken to enjoy while watching the Super Bowl will be available from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the VFW post, Cole Road and Route 7. Dinners are $7, takeout only.
SCHENECTADY COUNTY Federal funds to fix culverts Grant program kicked in $316,000 for storm repairs BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Michael Lamendola at 395-3114 or lamend@dailygazette.com.
Schenectady County will use federal grants to repair two culverts damaged by rain storms last July, a county official said recently. Department of Public Works Director Joe Ryan said the county received $316,000 from the Federal Highway Emergency Aid program for the repairs, estimated to cost $396,000. The county must provide a 20 percent match, or $79,200. Ryan said the match is contained in the county’s capital budget. The summer storms caused more than $3 million in damage to roads and infrastructure across the county. The county will replace metal and concrete culverts under Rosendale Road in Niskayuna and Duanesburg-Churches Road in Duanesburg. Ryan said the work will begin this summer. In the case of Rosendale Road, the county will replace a concrete culvert under the road. The work will take approximately two weeks to complete. During the work, the road will have alternate lane closures, Ryan said. The Duanesburg-Churches Road work will be more extensive, Ryan said, taking three to four weeks to complete. The road will be closed for several days to replace metal culverts, and there will be alternate lane closures as well, he said. The county will post detours when the road is closed, Ryan said. Ryan said the county made temporary repairs to the culverts and would have had to pay for permanent repairs with county money, were it not for the federal assistance. “It is a repair we would have to make. We have no choice,” he said. Ryan said the two roads are part of around 90 miles of federally designated highways in the county. These are county roadways that connect to .....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01103
Here we go again. The U.S. Postal Service is once again trying to close the Quaker Street post office. The last time was in the early 1980s, and it took threeand-a-half years to get it back. I have been here, done this and I am just a tad annoyed that it has to be done again. Dealing with the bureaucracy of the U.S. Postal Service is not an uplifting experience. The last time this happened, questions of any import had to be submitted in writing to an official in Albany. These questions were then sent to someplace in Connecticut where they were passed around for a while and finally ended up in Washington. When or if there was a response, it was written in almost uninterrupted governmentspeak. Postal officials were routinely anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour late for appointments that had taken weeks to set up. They were by turn officious, condescending, obstructionist and arrogant. When they lost, they gave us back the post office but they set it up for failure. The hours were set for the convenience of postal employees, not the public — the lobby hours set so that anyone who works for a living can only pick up their mail if they are late for work or leave work early. If in the limited hours the window is open [and] you wish to buy something as unusual as a roll of stamps, a money order or a packing box, you have to come back the next day because they are “temporarily” out of these things. If you wish to mail packages using your credit or debit card, you can’t because there is no machine to accept the card. People moving into Quaker Street who wish to open a box are routinely given this list of difficulties, and some have chosen not to have a box. Is it any wonder that the planned failure having succeeded, the U.S. Postal Service is now telling Quaker Street patrons that the post office must close because it is losing money?
QUAKER STREET Residents lament loss of post offi ce Financial reasons cited for closing facility BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
For nearly two centuries, neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night could stay the mail from arriving in Quaker Street. Other than a brief interruption during the mid-1980s, the U.S. Postal Service has maintained a presence in the hamlet along Duanesburg Road. But by month’s end, officials will relocate their entire operation — including the 12141 ZIP code — down the Route 395 hill to the nearby village of Delanson. The locals are unhappy. Some see the Postal Service choking the small mail depot out of existence. Others are dismayed over the disappearance of a fixture of Quaker Street’s identity since 1837. “Anytime you have a hamlet or community gathering place that’s traditional or has long roots in community that is disappearing, I become concerned,” said Art Willis, the longtime historian of both Quaker Street and Duanesburg. “It’s always been kind of a hub for this hamlet.” Lifelong resident Ann Burnett worries about the elderly residents, many who still walk to the branch at the heart of Quaker Street. “It’s terrible for them to have to lose it,” she said. Maureen Marion, spokeswoman for the service, cited mounting debt and the overall decline in the use of the post office. She said about three dozen people gather their mail there and relocating about three-quarters of a mile to Delanson wouldn’t be that drastic. While sympathizing with concerns, Marion said some of the residents living near the rural postal routes may get home delivery, which would be an improvement. Quaker Street’s first post offi ce was established by Jobe Cleveland more than five decades before another location was started in Delanson near the end of the 19th century. In 1883, the Postal Service moved the Quaker Street branch into a former shoe factory, which is now home to Wolfe’s Market and Pizza. Willis said historical records show the location as a gathering place. “There’s no question that was a major post office.” The Postal Service now leases a roughly 250-square-foot space off the side of the market. The post office is staffed by one person and is only open between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. weekdays and Saturday, The pending closure isn’t the first time the service has pulled out of Quaker Street. The service closed the hamlet’s post office in 1985, until a grass-roots movement reversed that about three and a half years later. Market owner Dennis Wolfe built the addition specifically to house the postal branch. The Postal Service initially signed a 10-year lease in 1989. Many residents argue the Postal Service deliberately limited the post office’s offerings and hours. The number of post office boxes in use declined from more than 120 in 1985. “They reduced the hours so you couldn’t make it there even if you wanted to,” Wolfe said. “You couldn’t even buy Christmas stamps there in December.” But Marion insists the decision to consolidate the Quaker Street and Delanson branches is strictly financial. Last year, the Postal Service attempted to reduce its $2.8 billion deficit by eliminating roughly 41,000 jobs through attrition. This debt was cited last month, when U.S. Postmaster General John Potter asked Congress to allow the service to switch to a five-day delivery system. “We are in a difficult business climate,” Marion said. Wolfe disagreed. While he is aware of the overall problems facing the service, he said closing Quaker Street isn’t likely to make much of a difference. “I don’t see how closing one little office like Quaker Street is going to ................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01201
DUANESBURG District looks to cut 7 positions Move needed to prevent double-digit tax increase BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Large reductions in state aid will force the Duanesburg Central School District to shed the equivalent of seven full-time jobs, administrators said Wednesday. The district plans to downsize the equivalent of five instructional positions and two non-instructional positions in the proposed 2009-10 budget to prevent a double-digit tax increase. Business Administrator Brenda Kane said the district will lose more than $829,000 in total state aid because of a freeze to state foundation aid and the governor’s deficit reduction assessment. “It’s a huge percent that was taken out of here,” she said. “We could barely survive on just freezing the foundation aid.” Even with a roughly 2.6 percent decrease in overall spending, the district is still facing a 3.98 percent increase in school taxes. The budget proposes $14.4 million in spending, which is about $379,268 less than the 2008-09 proposal. The district has about 950 students. The district was forced to make a number of cuts last year after voters rejected a $14.8 million spending plan. In response, the Board of Education trimmed an additional $51,000 from the budget, which pared down funding to a number of school programs. “We don’t have a lot of extras in our programs to begin with,” said Superintendent Christine Crowley. “We’re kind of bare bones.” This year’s cuts will reduce administrative funding by $23,000, program costs by $343,000 and capital expenditures by $14,000. Crowley said the budget will have a large impact on the district, but there are few alternatives. “We’re in a no-win situation,” she said. The budget proposes eliminating the elementary school language teacher and librarian, a physical education teacher and a high school language teacher. Two part-time positions teaching science and history would also be eliminated, along with a part-time custodian and librarian aide and teacher aide; a full-time English teacher and a full-time math teacher would be reduced to part-time. The budget also proposes eliminating the 5 p.m. bus service from the school. Funding would also be cut for the district’s Academic Intervention Services Summer Reading Program and Missoula Children’s Theatre Program under the spending plan. “We’re still hoping and crossing our fingers that we’re going to get some aid,” Crowley said. “But you can’t build a budget on hope.” Crowley said the district will also lose a number of school board members this year. Board president Raymond Hawes and vice president James Breitenstein — both veteran members of the board — have decided against running for reelection. In addition, board member John Iseman will resign his position effective June 30, citing..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01101
DUANESBURG Hannaford market planning OK likely Store to service Routes 20, 30 area BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
The project to bring a major supermarket chain to Duanesburg could take a big step forward this evening . Members of the town Planning Board are expecting to approve building a 35,000-square-foot Hannaford Supermarket off Route 20 near the intersection with Route 30. Chairwoman Sandra Scott said the regular board meeting at 7 p.m. was moved to the gymnasium at the Duanesburg Community Center on Victoria Drive just in case there is a large turnout for the public hearing on the project. But so far, Scott said, there hasn’t been much opposition, and the few complaints raised were already mitigated. “They’re overwhelmingly in favor of it,” she said Wednesday of the sentiment she’s observed at board meetings. Some worried about Hannaford’s plans to discharge wastewater into the nearby Schoharie Creek. However, the project includes a wastewater treatment plant that would discharge clean water through a ditch into the creek. Others said light pollution from the supermarket’s parking lot could disturb the night sky at the Landis Arboretum in Esperance, used by astronomers. Scott said the project developers have since cut the level of light pollution in half. “Everybody involved did a lot of things right,” she said. Developers from Ventura-Duanesburg LLC introduced the project in December, indicating the store would be roughly half the size of other regional Hannaford stores. Hannaford has begun building the smaller stores to fill gaps in market coverage. The project still faces review from the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Spokesman Rick Georgeson said the DEC will continue to accept public comments on the project until early April, but everything seems to be in order to meet the standards needed for surface discharge into the Schoharie. “It looks like water quality standard certification will be met,” he said. The developers are hoping to.................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....203&ViewMode=GIF
Hannaford gets OK for Duanesburg site BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
Hannaford is coming to Duanesburg. Members of the town’s Planning Board approved a subdivision and special use permit that will allow the Maine-based supermarket chain to build a 35,000-square-foot grocery store on 7 acres of farm land off Western Turnpike near the Route 30 intersection. The approval was greeted with a booming applause from many of the roughly 100 residents who came to a public hearing on the project at the Duanesburg Area Community Center. Preliminary plans for the new market include a full-service pharmacy with drive-through, plus normal supermarket services such as a butcher shop, a bakery and a deli. Officials from the company said the project will take about nine months to build and expect to open the supermarket in early 2010. Supporters expressed excitement over the prospect of having a full-service grocery and pharmacy nearby, as well as the expansion of the town’s tax base and about 100 jobs. “It will be a great source of convenience for most of us, particularly because of the pharmacy and especially for our seniors,” commented Delanson resident Phil Alotta to cheers from the crowd. “And especially because it’s building our tax base.” But other residents voiced concern about the environmental impact on the Schoharie Creek, which runs about 800 feet west of the site. Some worried about discharge from the project’s activated sludge treatment plant, which will drain treated water into an above-ground channel that runs into the creek. “In a very short time, that discharge is going to load up the soil and then flow into the creek,” said John McKeeby, an Esperance resident and the executive director of the Schoharie River Center. Chris Schneck of Ventura-Duanesburg LLC assured....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01003
Duanesburg school gets new principal DUANESBURG — The Duanesburg Central School District Board of Education has hired Erica Ryan as the new elementary school principal, replacing Kathleen O’Brien, who left the district in December, according to the district Web site. Ryan previously worked in the Shenendehowa Central School District as an interim academic administrator of elementary schools. Prior to that she taught fourth grade in the Cohoes City School District for three years, and at the Taconic Hills School District for one year. Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from SUNY Oswego and a master’s degree in literacy from the University at Albany. She is currently enrolled in the School Building Leadership program at UAlbany and expects to graduate in May.
DUANESBURG Tests suggest high chemical levels Contamination of water studied BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
Students investigating possible contamination along a stretch of the Normans Kill have found town documents suggesting the ground water in test wells near the defunct Duanesburg landfill routinely had chemical levels exceeding state regulations. The documents, some dating back as far as May 2000, were produced by an engineering fi rm hired to monitor four test wells dug near the capped landfill on a quarterly basis. In particular, the documents suggest the well nearest to the creek routinely exhibited chemical levels greater than those stipulated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. “Routinely, their own tests have indicated that certain chemicals are making their way into the monitoring wells of the dump that are exceeding the maximum levels,” said John McKeeby, the Schoharie River Center’s executive director, who guided the students during their research. McKeeby said eight students from the river center filed a freedom of information request with the town and reviewed 147 pages of landfill records during a school break in February. He said their findings seem to support an earlier study conducted by the group, which concluded leachate from the dump was trickling into the creek. “That fit exactly with what we were seeing,” he said, The roughly 15-acre dump stopped accepting trash in 1991 and was capped the following year at a cost of $1.5 million, about half of which was funded through a state grant. As part of the closure plan, contractors installed a system that was aimed at collecting leachate from the landfill in tanks that were to be periodically pumped out by the town. Records reviewed by the students show the town regularly pumps about 3,300 gallons of leachate from two tanks. The tank on the western edge of the landfill, however, appears to be emptied on a more frequent basis than another located on the eastern side. DEC officials declined to comment about the documents, citing an ongoing investigation into the matter. Town Supervisor Rene Merrihew was perplexed as to why the DEC never responded to the test results, since each one was sent directly to the agency. “If there was any problem there, I’d think they’d let us know,” she said Wednesday. In a related development, town officials allocated $5,500 to hire a private company that will test at the area where the students believe they found contamination. She said the company —H2H Associates of Troy — has................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01603
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