| Rockaway Community Park | |
|---|---|
| Edgemere Park | |
 Rockaway Community Park in 2018. | |
 | |
| Type | Public park |
| Location | 54-02 Almeda Avenue Edgemere, Queens, New York |
| Coordinates | 40°36′22″N 73°46′44″W / 40.606°N 73.779°W |
| Area | 255.40 acres (103.36 ha)[1] |
| Operated by | New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |
| Status | Open |
| Superfund site | |
| Information | |
| CERCLIS ID | NYD980754725 |
| Contaminants | Various chemicals |
| Responsible parties | New York City Department of Sanitation |
| List of Superfund sites | |
Edgemere Landfill is a former municipal landfill located in Edgemere on the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, New York City. It is located on a man-made peninsula on the Jamaica Bay shoreline, at the eastern end of the Rockaway peninsula. A portion of the site is open to the public as Rockaway Community Park (formerly Edgemere Park). The entire site is owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
The landfill began operations in June 1938, merging several islands in the Jamaica Bay marshland and connecting them to the main Rockaway Peninsula. Shortly afterward, a portion of the site was used as the Rockaway Airport. Edgemere Park was conceived for the landfill site in the 1950s by New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, as part of the infrastructure for the adjacent Edgemere Houses housing project. The site, along with several other planned parks in the city, continued operations as a landfill in order to fill the marshland for park development. The small portion of Rockaway Community Park adjacent to the Edgemere Houses was developed in the 1960s. During its operation, the landfill was a dumping site for toxic chemicals and waste oil, and served as a hazard to nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport by attracting birds. Following the discovery of toxic waste drums in the landfill in 1983, the landfill was declared a Superfund site. It was closed in 1991 and capped afterwards.
The peak of the landfill is the tallest point in the Rockaways, measuring 70 feet (21 m) high.[2]: 5 [3] The landfill is claimed to be "the longest continuously operating dump in the United States", accepting waste from 1938 to 1991.[2]: 50 [3] It is also one of the oldest landfills in New York City,[4][5][6] and was the second-to-last city landfill to remain in operation. The final landfill, Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, closed in 2001.
- ^ "Rockaway Community Park: History". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- ^ a b "Place-Based Community Brownfield Planning Foundation Report on Existing Conditions: Edgemere/Arverne, Queens; Final: April 2016" (PDF). New York City Office of Environmental Remediation, New York State Department of State, New York City Department of City Planning. April 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 28, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- ^ a b Gold, Allan R. (July 14, 1991). "Rockaway Journal; Dump's Close Ends Malodorous Era". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
RivelRosenheim2016was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
NYCostal-Aug1982was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ain, Stewart (December 24, 1987). "Fed up with landfill". New York Daily News. p. 35. Retrieved September 1, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.