TARRYTOWN – Environmental organization Riverkeeper Thursday served notice of its intent to sue Lehigh Cement Company for what it alleges are ongoing violations of the federal Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act at the company’s Catskill facility. The Notice of Intent to Sue is the first step in initiating a citizen suit under the CWA and RCRA. After the required 60-day and 90-day waiting periods under the CWA and RCRA, Riverkeeper will file a case in federal court.

Riverkeeper said its frequent Hudson River patrols by boat and helicopter revealed evidence of the illegal dumping of landfill leachate into wetlands and the Hudson River. Leachate from Lehigh’s landfill flows directly into unnaturally golden-bronze colored wetland ponds which are adjacent and hydrologically connected to the Hudson River.

The leachate being discharged from Lehigh’s landfill is highly alkaline with a pH reading of 12.3, which approaches the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard of corrosivity for hazardous waste, the environmental group charged. These leachate discharges are caused by water which percolates through the cement kiln dust contained in the landfill, picking up contaminants, before collecting at the landfill’s base and flowing into the wetlands. These discharges are occurring without a State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit and violate the CWA, RCRA, and state solid waste regulations, Riverkeeper alleges.

Riverkeeper’s NOIS alleges that Lehigh’s leachate discharges are not permitted under the CWA and create an imminent and substantial endangerment to health and the environment under RCRA.