Erie golf course has concerning history

As Millcreek Township, in northwest Pennsylvania, moves forward with the attempted sale of the Erie Golf Club property, located on Old Zuck Road, there’s an approximately 40-acre section of concern. Potential bidders on the property are being informed about the property’s history, but many Millcreek residents have no idea that it was once a dump owned and operated by the City of Erie. 

I certainly didn’t know anything about a dump until we purchased a house about a mile north of the property, and my mother expressed concern that the subdivision had been built on the dump. At the time, my father assured her that our house was not built in that area, and I let it rest until a couple of months ago. In my deep dive of digital Erie newspapers, I found not one, but two, former dumps adjacent to each other.

The City of Erie acquired the property in the 1920s from the Erie Golf Club with the stipulation that it would always be used as a public park or golf course. (The original Erie Golf Club, founded in the 1800s, was located near St. Joseph’s apartments near the bayfront. That club disbanded in 1917 and then reemerged in 1921, with the purchase of the current property.) After a few years of trying to operate the golf course on their own, the members realized that the City of Erie had more resources to properly run a golf course, as evidenced by the popular municipal links at Glenwood. At this time, the sport of golf was nearly a craze and affordable to people from all walks of life. Once the Erie Golf Club is sold, it will no longer be a municipal golf course.

What was the City Dump, and why was it in Millcreek?

In the 1940s, the city acquired land adjacent to the golf course for a dump meant to ease the congestion at the many smaller dumps located in the city. Millcreek agreed to let the city operate the dump in exchange for running much-needed sewer lines into the township. The City Dump then began operations next to a Walnut Creek tributary and to the east of the golf course. That’s not all, just north of the City Dump, a privately owned dump had been operating for 35 years, accepting Millcreek garbage and rubbish from private haulers. This property, known as the Hann dump, was located where the Community Country Day School now stands. 

The Hann dump had many problems, and with the addition of another dump, the Millcreek neighbors were made miserable because of the constant smoke from fires, planned and unplanned, the refuse that fell off the trucks on the way to the dump, the smell, and the many rats that visited their properties. 

In the early 1950s, the City Dump ceased formal operations, but people continued to illegally dump their refuse there and the fires continued. Seeing opportunity, the Hann dump ramped up operations, but by 1954, it was shut down by court order. By the 1960s, things had calmed down, and many people forgot there had been a City Dump in Millcreek. That’s until the golf course expanded, and workers started finding tires and other refuse there. A cleanup was performed and the additional holes were built.

How Millcreek Acquired a Golf Course

The deal between the airport authority, the City of Erie, and Millcreek Township involved cash for the City, more runway for the airport, and a golf course for Millcreek. This deal took away three holes from the Millcreek Golf Course, which had been built on a superfund site, and gave the township a full-sized, 18-hole golf course, which had been run down a bit, but could be brought back up to par. Seems like a great deal, right? Unfortunately, decision makers in Millcreek think they should turn a profit on a municipal golf course instead of viewing it as a service for the residents. Why not just charge more for non-Millcreek residents?

Millcreek was originally hesitant about accepting the golf course property, because of the former City Dump and possible lingering environmental issues after the original cleanup. For the Millcreek/City of Erie deal, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection got involved, studies were performed, recommendations were made, and remediation was completed, including removing truckloads of refuse and adding topsoil to the area. The City of Erie, Millcreek, and future owners were released from liability, but it seems that this liability is not completely guaranteed if new issues arise. In any case, prospective buyers will be wise to have testing done at the site (soil, ground water, impact on Walnut Creek and area residential wells).

Environmental Questions

It’s quite complicated, but the land survey, performed by Environmental Remediation and Recovery, Inc., revealed that the refuse from the dump included clay, rubber scrap, concrete, small metal containers, and other solid materials, called solid waste or “non-media solids.” The experts tested the soil and ground water. Findings included the existence of higher-than-desired quantities of VOCs (volatile organic compounds), such as trichloroethylene and vinyl chloride. Arsenic was also detected in quantities above “medium specific concentration” under the Land Recycling Act.

These activities and the brokering of the sale occurred before it was possible to search digital copies of the Erie newspaper through the Erie County Public Library. Perhaps if Millcreek supervisors had had a better picture of the history, they wouldn’t have taken the deal. A deep dive into the digital newspapers revealed the history of the dump during its operations. Being located next to a Walnut Creek tributary is concerning, as is the fact that dump contents were burnt nightly, and unmonitored dumping continued for years after the dump closed. Also concerning is the private Hann dump that operated for 35 years. It was apparently cleaned up, but how? Who supervised? Old-time dumps weren’t lined like modern landfills. What toxins might be leaching into the groundwater and Walnut Creek today?

The formal documents after the study and sale stipulate that the groundwater may not be used for any purpose, and the soil may not be disturbed unless approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Millcreek must also maintain the fill and vegetative cover and dispose of any wastes. This does not seem like a minor matter.

Millcreek’s obligations cannot be modified, diminished, terminated, or altered by transfer of any legal or equitable interest in the party, except by agreement by both parties. Prospective buyers must be given a notice of the limitations on the property and future owners must continue demonstration of compliance.

According to the agreements signed during the transfer of the property from Erie to Millcreek, Millcreek is required to review the condition of the surface soils and non-media solids every fall. These reports were part of right-to-know request, but they were not provided. Perhaps they are included in the thousands of pages of paper documents located at the township, but if the surveys are being done regularly, they should exist in digital form.

According to the final approval from the DEP, cleanup liability protection provided by Act 2 of the Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act, applies to anyone who was involved in the original remediation. It’s possible though, that the sampling from the area was not extensive enough, considering that they were under the impression that there were merely “pockets” of refuse located there. The fact that the property is located above a stream valley warrants continued monitoring. Is anyone testing Walnut Creek today for the contaminates listed in the 2010 report by Environmental Remediation and Recovery, Inc.? 

There are many questions about the Erie Golf Club property that should be asked by whomever is interested in acquiring the land. Millcreek residents should be asking questions as well.

Sample questions:

Is Millcreek monitoring the area, including Walnut Creek, today? Where are the reports?

Has post-cleanup analysis ever been performed on the former Hann dump where the Community Country Day School sits?

How was the Hann dump cleaned up? Who was involved?

I’m currently trying to get answers to these questions. Future blog posts on this topic are planned. Stay tuned.

Disclaimer: I am not a scientist. Those who are, might be able to shed more light on this subject. Comments below are welcome, but let’s stay civil, shall we?