It was back in March of 2012 that a massive fish kill at Four Corners Pond occurred. Dead fish floated on the surface of the pond, washing ashore and the pond smelled foul.

The eventual culprit in the dead fish caper turned out to be the Town of Tuxedo’s smoldering mulch pile on Long Meadow Road in Sterling Forest. Operated by Perfect Cut, which rents out space from Tuxedo on Department of Public Works property, the mulch pile takes in most of the trees and tree debris by tree cutting companies in this part of the county. The mulch pile last year had grown to gigantic proportions, was catching fire and had to be watered daily to dampen the combusting debris.

After public outcry over the condition of both Warwick Brook and Four Corners Pond, the NY Department of Environmental Conservation was forced to act. In a letter dated April 13, 2012 DEC “water tests concluded that operations at the Tuxedo mulch site on Long Meadow Road resulted in numerous water quality impairments that caused the mid-March fish kill along Warwick Brook and Four Corners Pond.”

Tuxedo resident Ed Gedvila and his friend, John Moon, from Tuxedo Park, hiked down from Tuxedo Lake through the streams and marshes that comprise Warwick Brook last year, following a trail of foam while taking pictures.

Currently, the Town of Tuxedo must come into full DEC compliance on September 1, which means that the reduced size and elevation of the massive mulch pile must be continually maintain. And there can be no more fire-hose daily watering bouts, which contributed to contamination of the entire surrounding ecosystem.

Sue Scher of Sterling Forest Partnership brought the subject of the mulch pile up at a July Town of Tuxedo board meeting, asking the board whether the town would be in compliance with the DEC order.

TPFYI reported on the board meeting and wrote that Supervisor Dolan replied that the town is required to be in compliance by September 1 and it is their intention to be so. Dolan said that the size of the pile is significantly reduced.

Supervisor Dolan also stated that there was no additional leaching into surrounding wetlands at the site due to a containment field that was built to surround the mulch pile. The town receives approximately $2,500 rent per month from Perfect Cut for use of the site as well as mulch and dirt income — the last recorded income reported a check for $9,000.

Additionally, Dolan said that the town provides a month report on the site to the DEC.

Geoff Welch, a co-organizer of the Ramapo River Watershed Conference and the Ramapo River Watershed Keeper, recently visited Four Corners Pond and the mulch pile to get a perspective on the conditions of both. He said Four Corners Pond, once a popular fishing spot, looked bleak and overgrown with too much vegetation.

“It looked like there was too much too much nitrogen and/or phosphorous in the pond,” Welch said. “This causes excessive plant growth that leads to depleted oxygen levels and fish kills. The Four Corners fish kill event was large and had a negative environmental impact along miles of the Warwick Brook. We need to stop the pollution impacts and let the Warwick Brook watershed  recover.”

Welch continued: “Further downstream along Warwick Brook Road, conditions appear to be better. All of the downstream wetlands should receive biodiversity studies as part of the remediation from the March 2012 fish kill event from the mulch site and to assess any current impacts.”

Photos of the Four Corners Pond, mulch pile and surrounding wetlands provided courtesy of Geoff Welch.