GEORGETOWN, Del.- The old Georgetown landfill used to be off of Donovans Road. It was there from 1938 to 1969.
Town Manager Gene Dvornick says in early 2020 SNREC wanted to do investigative work at the site.
"Late 2020 and into 2021, they did a facility evaluation so they pulled some soil and water samples," Dvornick said. "And then based on that, they asked if we would be interested in a transitive volunteer clean up program."
According to DNREC's site evaluation and testing, several metals exceeded screening levels in soil including antimony, arsenic, copper, lead, and thallium.
Metal was reported in all six samples of groundwater with cobalt, iron, and manganese being the most prevalent.
Cadmium, lead, zinc, and/or cyanide were reported in sediment exceeding screening criteria.
Savannah Prettyman lives across the street and says she has concerns over contamination between Donovan Salvage Works and the old landfill.
"Maybe some of that contaminant could have been in our water," Prettyman said. "I just wish they hurry up and find out because now sometimes my grandchildren are here and I don't want them to pick anything up."
Dvornick says the next step is to start remediation sampling.
"Our third party consultant will put together a plan for sampling for water and soil and those will be approved by the Department Of Natural Resources and once they signed off on that, we will begin sampling," Dvornick said.
Dvornick did not have a start date for when the testing of the soil and groundwater will begin but when it does it will take about seven to nine months to complete.