In the end of January, it was reported how several Westchester County trucks damaged an archaeologically sensitive area at the Jay Property while transporting landfill from Rye Playland to dump in an abandoned pool that sits in the back of the property.

As angry as those at the Jay Heritage property were about that incident, they were further upset when they noticed the fill was dirty.

“We saw a Penzoil can and rusty nails sticking out,” said Suzanne Clary, Jay Heritage Center president. “We didn’t understand why the would put in dirt from Playland that has garbage in it.”

The Westchester County Parks insisted that the fill was clean, but the Jay Heritage Center hired an independent lab to test the material. The findings by the FPM Group Ltd., showed exactly what center representatives had feared.

“The report confirmed that the soil from Playland exceeds the NYDEC [New york Department of Environmental Conservation] standards for unrestricted community usage of the site, standards formulated to protect human health, groundwater and ecological resources,” Clary said. “We did try to appeal to County Parks several times through e-mails and asked them point blank, was this certified and HAZMAT tested, and we were told that it came from Playland and they think it’s safe.”

One e-mail from Joe Stout, Westchester County Parks and Conservation commissioner, stated, “Regarding the fill itself, it is from soil whose origins are at Playland. The fill is also used for projects at Playland and Edith Read Sanctuary. We are confident that the fill is safe.”

The study proved otherwise, according to Clary, showing that levels of SVOCs, pesticides (like DDT and chlordane,) and metals including arsenic, lead and chromium found in the fill were higher than they should be when looking at NYDEC unrestricted standards.

“Now that the results have come back that there are contaminates, we felt that it was our duty to send the results to the New York DEC, because they are the ones who set the standard,” Clary said. “We had a meeting with their regional director [on March 2] and we feel the report is in the best hands, because they understand the environmental sensitivity of the site, of the whole Jay Property, and we will wait to see what they decide next.”

The report was also sent to those allegedly responsible in Westchester County but folks at the Jay House have not heard back from anyone yet.

“The county has still not contacted us since we gave them the results, which I am stunned by,” Clary said. “We are trying to be proactive and also completely transparent. We were concerned about safety and we paid for the test results; that’s our contribution to the community. The taxpayers aren’t going to pay for that and I don’t think the county will reimburse us, but we saw an unsafe situation and knew we needed to do something.”

The pool had been open for 17 years so Jay House representatives are concerned at the possibility the safety hazard had existed for quite a long time, and further that the county made it even worse by filling in only the shallow end. The Jay House wants the pool fenced off, the fill removed safely and the pool filled correctly.

“There are so many terrific county park employees who do a terrific job throughout Westchester County, but this project was quite obviously badly managed, and it wasn’t planned to the standards that are appropriate for a historic landmark, or for an environmentally-sensitive site,” Clary said. “We are more concerned that we are not the only site or situation where this is happening.”

 Calls to the Westchester Parks and Recreation Department were not returned.