Letter: Alarmed About Plans For Runoff From Town Landfill

The following letter was sent to the Amherst Conservation Commission on April 16, 2023

I am a resident of Fields Association, located off Old Farm Road in Amherst.  I received an abutter notification regarding a plan by the Town of Amherst Department of Public Works (DPW) to install a water treatment system along Crossbrook Ave., one of the private roads that runs through our community.  The water to be treated is orange water that contains run-off from the unlined old Amherst landfill, located off Wildflower.  This orange water is currently collected and sent to the Amherst wastewater treatment facility, as required by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). 

Members of our community have been told that if the treatment is deemed successful, DPW will apply for a permit to discharge the treated orange water into Gull Pond.

Concerns About Safety Of Water

• How does the town intend to determine that “treatment” of the orange water is successful?  How frequently will the water be tested, for what will it be tested and by whom?  For example, does the town currently test the orange water for PFAS and will it continue to? Water testing only reveals what is tested for.  For example, it is only very recently that we have learned of the dangers of PFAS. 
• Why would the town risk discharging water known to be impacted by the unlined dump into a conservation area? The treatment technology is new. 
• How can the town know that it will perform over time? 
• Why should our community and town conservation land be used as an experiment in this way? 
• What environmental studies have been performed/reviewed that demonstrate treatment efficacy?

Concerns About Water Levels And Road Damage

• Our community is surrounded by wetlands and we have no existing flood management infrastructure; only a series of ditches and culverts that feed into and out of Gull Pond.  The water level in these ditches rises and falls depending on precipitation levels and in times of heavy precipitation, water from Gull Pond backs up into our community.  If the town discharges “treated” orange water into Gull Pond, we are very concerned that our roads will be compromised and our homes will flood.
• We are concerned about the pavement of Crossbrook being compromised by the installation of solar collector electric wires as well as the disruption to our neighborhood during installation.
• Our community receives no financial assistance from the Town for our roads and infrastructure. Our community and Ice Pond Woods are solely responsible for  maintenance and repair of our roads and other infrastructure.  Costs for this can run very high.  In addition, our community consists of relatively modest homes and moderate-income households.  It is not right or equitable for the town to install infrastructure that may damage our homes and roads.

Concerns About Neighborhood
Our community is a quiet, residential neighborhood.  Many families, children, dog walkers, walk along our roads and especially along Crossbrook.  Installing town infrastructure in our neighborhood community does not seem appropriate or wise.  We question whether it is even permitted by zoning and why the town wouldn’t attempt to locate the system on town-owned land.

Legal Concerns
The town does not own the property on which it plans to install the water treatment system.  It must obtain legal rights from all owners of the land, and for that a title search must be conducted by an attorney.  Has this been done?

Sarah Matthews

Sarah Matthews is a resident of Amherst