Every Challenge Has a Backstory
In 2017, the Governor of New York signed the $2.5 billion Clean Water Infrastructure Act to address clean water and drinking water challenges in New York State communities. This legislation established a program for the investigation and remediation of solid waste sites, primarily inactive landfills, that could be impacting New York’s drinking water resources from site‐related contaminants, with a focus on emerging contaminants, including PFAS and
1,4‐dioxane.
Focus on Solutions
Under this program, Ramboll assisted NYSDEC and NYSDOH to evaluate more than 1,750 inactive landfills statewide and to develop a prioritized approach to sampling the landfills to evaluate for the presence of PFAS and 1,4‐dioxane and their possible impacts on groundwater and drinking water.
Ramboll, in coordination with a teaming partner, developed plans for the program and a ranking system for prioritization of landfills for investigation. Once identified, landfills were then inspected and observations documented using mobile devices and a Ramboll-developed Collector App for ArcGIS, which allowed for cost-effective, efficient data collection. When needed, UAVs and drones were also used for visual inspection.
Results that Matter
To date, Ramboll has completed groundwater sampling and analysis at over 100 identified inactive landfills. As part of this effort, Ramboll has installed monitoring wells at 35 landfills, sampled groundwater and surface water at 48 landfills, and sampled over 70 residences, all based on the results of the prioritization that was developed during the initial phase of the project.
