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Site Type: Long Term/National Priorities List (NPL)  |  |
AUBURN ROAD LANDFILL | |
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Map this site in Cleanups in My Community |
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| Londonderry, New Hampshire |
Rockingham County
| Street Address: | Auburn Road |
| Zip Code: | 03053 |
Congressional
District(s): |
01 |
| EPA ID #: | NHD980524086 |
| Site ID #: | 0101137 |
| Site Aliases: |
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| Site Responsibility: | Federal, Municipal, Potentially Responsible Parties |
| NPL LISTING HISTORY |
| Proposed Date | 12/30/1982 |
| Final Date | 09/08/1983 |
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Site Description
The Auburn Road Landfill in Londonderry is a 200-acre site that consists of three separate disposal areas which cover slightly more than 12-acres. The three disposal areas include: the former Londonderry Town Dump, which operated during the 1960's and was used for the disposal of over 1,000 drums of chemical waste; a tire disposal area, where tires and demolition debris and several hundred drums of chemical waste were dumped; and a solid waste landfill, the largest disposal area, which was active until the State ordered the entire landfill closed in 1980 after hazardous wastes were identified in soil, and toxic organic substances were found in surface water and ground water. In 1986, EPA determined that contaminated ground water was flowing off-site toward drinking water supply wells at the Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park, and potentially towards other private residential wells in the area. The area surrounding the landfill is residential and commercial, and the 300 homes and 270 mobile homes within a 1-mile radius primarily used ground water as a source of drinking water until municipal water was supplied to these homes in 1987. Approximately 1,000 people live within 3 miles of the site. Two unnamed streams drain from the site and flow into Cohas Brook, which in turn empties into the Merrimack River. A former septage lagoon, which was located just northeast of the solid waste landfill, was excavated and disposed of within the solid waste landfill by the Town prior to 1996.
Threats and Contaminants
The soils are contaminated with VOCs and inorganics, as well as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides. Fencing and capping of the town dump, the tire dump, and solid waste landfill areas (which includes the excavated materials from the former septage lagoon) has decreased the likelihood of exposure to contaminated soils; however, the areas adjacent to the fences are used for riding dirt bikes and horses. The ground water is contaminated with inorganic chemicals. Exposure to contaminated ground water was eliminated when the municipal water supply was extended to local residents; however, bedrock fractures may promote migration of contaminants into off-site ground water and present a potential threat to private wells located outside the area provided by municipal water. The site includes large areas of wetlands, which are environmentally sensitive.
Cleanup Approach
The site was addressed in four stages: initial actions and three long-term remedial phases focusing on providing a municipal water supply, cleaning up the ground water contamination, and capping the site.
Response Action Status
| Initial Action | The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) temporarily relocated 17 families beginning in early 1986. At the same time, EPA excavated approximately 1,900 drums in three locations and then restored two of the excavated areas. Drums were consolidated, covered, and sampled prior to their disposal off-site. Between 1987 and 1988, the owner fenced the four disposal areas and posted warning signs. In 1988, the EPA excavated an additional 316 drums from a tire dump area.
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| Water Supply Line | In late 1987, the Town of Londonderry extended the current water service provided by the Manchester Water Works to 17 homes along Auburn Road and to 260 mobile homes in the Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park. Nine thousand linear feet of water line was installed. The Town of Londonderry constructed and paid for the water supply line under an agreement with the EPA.
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| Groundwater | In 1989, the EPA Record of Decision (ROD) called for the collection of contaminated ground water through a series of overburden and bedrock extraction wells, and the use of ground water collection trenches. Inorganic contamination was to be removed using chemical precipitation while organic contaminants were to be treated using a combination of air stripping and, if necessary, carbon treatment. A study conducted in 1994 concluded that VOCs in ground water no longer exceeded the established cleanup levels. High levels of arsenic, however, still existed. EPA evaluated methods of addressing arsenic contamination and determined that capping the landfill (completed in 1996) would likely achieve the established cleanup levels within the same time frame as an active remedy. Based on that determination, EPA issued an Amended Record of Decision in 1996 changing the ground water cleanup action to natural attenuation with ground water, surface water, and sediment sampling required.
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| Capping | The 1989 ROD also specified that a multi-layer cap be placed over the solid waste area, the town dump area, and the tire dump area to reduce the further spread of contaminants into the ground water. The Town of Londonderry completed construction of the multi-layer caps in 1996. In addition, approximately 7 acres of wetlands which were disturbed during cap construction were replicated by creating new, constructed wetlands.
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| Enforcement Highlights | A final settlement was reached in 1999 with the potentially responsible parties for payment of past and future response costs and for any future remedial actions. |
Environmental Progress
The EPA, FEMA, and the Town of Londonderry have acted to protect area residents from site contamination by historically relocating affected populations, erecting a fence to restrict site access, providing a safe water supply, and removing a large number of drums containing contaminants. The existing landfill caps are also reducing the further spread of contamination as natural attenuation processes are slowly working to cleanup the ground water at the site.
Current Site Status
The Fourth Five-Year Review was issued in September 2007. This Five-Year Review found that the potentially responsible parties constructed the remedy in accordance with the requirements of the 1986, 1989 and 1996 Records of Decision. Within this Five-Year Review, the EPA found that the remedy associated with the water supply line was protective of human health. The EPA found that capping of the three disposal areas to prevent direct contact with wastes and reduce flushing of contaminants through the landfill wastes is also protective of human health and the environment. The EPA determined that the groundwater remedy, natural attenuation, was protective of human health and the environment in the short-term because no current risks are present at the Site in either groundwater, surface water and/or sediments. However, the EPA believes that for the groundwater remedy to be protective in the long-term and to achieve the new Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for arsenic of 10 parts per billion, groundwater institutional controls must be established and enforced throughout the groundwater plume on-Site and off-Site. Additionally, the long-term monitoring program needs to be modified to better assess water levels and geochemical conditions in the aquifer, previous modeling efforts need to be updated to determine a more accurate estimate of cleanup times, alternatives to natural attenuation need to be evaluated, and the potential vapor intrusion pathway must be evaluated. A study is currently underway to characterize the hydrogeologic framework, and identify potential preferential groundwater flow paths for landfill leachate; and assess arsenic transport processes and potential geochemical reactions controlling arsenic concentrations at the site.
Site Photos
A view of the toe of the solid waste landfill.
Links to Other Site Information
Newsletters & Press Releases:
Federal Register Notices:
Administrative Records:
Reports and Studies:
Five Year Review Report, September, 30, 1992 (478KB)  | | |
| Second Five Year Report, September 29, 1997 (2396KB) | | |
| Third Five Year Report, September 24, 2002 (319KB) | | |
| Fourth Five Year Review Report, September 28, 2007 (2.76 MB) | | |
| Fifth Five Year Review Report, September 27, 2012 (6.3 MB) | | |
| 2012 Source Control Operation and Maintenance Report, February 1, 2013 (23.4 MB) | | |
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Decision Documents:
Other Links:
Site Repositories
Leach Public Library, 276 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, NH 03053
OSRR Records and Information Center, 1st Floor, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100 (HSC), Boston, MA 02109-3912 (617) 918-1440
Contacts
| EPA Remedial Project Manager: | Richard Hull |
| Address: | US Environmental Protection Agency
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Mail Code OSRR07-1
Boston, MA 02109-3912 |
| Phone #: | 617-918-1882 |
| E-Mail Address: | hull.richard@epa.gov |
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| EPA Community Involvement Coordinator: | Rodney Elliot |
| Address: | US Environmental Protection Agency
New England Regional Laboratory
11 Technology Drive
Chelmsford, MA 01863-2431 |
| Phone #: | 617-918-8372 |
| E-Mail Address: | elliot.rodney@epa.gov |
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| State Agency Contact: | Kenneth Richards |
| Address: | NHDES, 29 Hazen Drive, PO Box 95
Concord, New Hampshire 03302-0095 |
| Phone #: | 603-271-4060 |
| E-Mail Address: | kenneth.richards@des.nh.gov |
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