The seven mysterious barrels that were discovered at the Town of Plattekill transfer station more than six months ago have been finally discarded.

Councilman Dean DePew Sr., who revealed the discovery of the barrels at a Plattekill Town Board meeting on July 20, 2022, said at the January 18 board meeting that the barrels were finally tested and disposed of this month. He said the barrels were opened and found to contain toner fluid.

“It’s the best thing to find rather than something toxic or something we can’t get rid of,” said DePew, the Deputy Supervisor who ran the meeting in the absence of Supervisor Jennifer Salemo.

The abandoned barrels may have been at the transfer station since 2014 or even longer, DePew said. The barrels were left over from when a private company turned the transfer station over to the Town of Plattekill.

“I’m glad that they’re gone,” DePew said. “I believe the barrels were brought to our attention back in 2014. And then things just fell to the wayside. We were finally able to get rid of them. It’s good to get it done.”

The process was slowed because the town’s original bid was put out just to dispose of the barrels.

“We kind of added three or four months to the process by putting out the bids to get rid of the barrels as opposed to getting them analyzed and then properly getting rid of them,” DePew said at the time.

Then the town voted to switch to another environmental firm when the first company hired – Clear Water Environmental Services of Newburgh – was unable to retrieve any samples of the barrels. The town switched to the second lowest bidder C2G Environmental Consultants of New Paltz when the original firm said it would have to exceed the original bid to cover the cost of testing and disposing. “C2G did a very quick and thorough job, so we thank them for that,” DePew said.

In other news, DePew reported that the town will receive a grant of $27,000 from New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund Smart Growth Community Planning and Zoning program.

The funds will be used to complete the second phase of the town’s comprehensive plan. The town has already approved and budgeted another $3,000 to complete the comprehensive plan.

Councilman Wilfrido Castillo Jr. was approved to replace Councilman Darryl Matthews on the Voucher Audit Committee.

Castillo and Coucilman Bill Kras were approved to become members of the Justice Audit Committee.

DePew also said the town currently has openings on the town’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.
The town also renewed its agreement with the Ulster County URGENT task force for 2023.

“It’s a great addition to our law enforcement community and it benefits us all very well,” said DePew before the board voted 4-0 to allow Salemo to sign the agreement through 2023.