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State environment officials have asked for county pollution data on the Gude Landfill after a group of Rockville residents exposed years of toxic contamination from the site.

Peter Karasik, of the county's Department of Environmental Protection, said the state stopped monitoring Gude after the landfill closed in 1982 but in light of the activism of a residents' group, Gude Landfill Concerned Citizens, is renewing their review of the defunct facility.

At a County Council committee meeting Monday, Karasik said the county needs to consider mitigation measures to stop the leaching of toxic chemicals from the landfill into groundwater.

"Capping the landfill may be what happens here," he said, explaining a process that would prevent water from seeping through the landfill.

At a public hearing in front of the County Council last month, Julia Tillery, a member of the Gude Landfill Concerned Citizens which represents about 500 households in the Derwood Station and Hollybrooke neighborhoods, cited a recent county report that indicates that water sampling data taken from a ring of wells around the landfill between 2001 and September 2008 contains levels of several chemicals beyond what federal law allows.

"Cyanide, lead, mercury, benzene and 24 other toxic substances are oozing from the landfill at levels so high, the EPA says they exceed the maximum contamination limits sometimes by tenfold," she said.

The members of the council's Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee agree that the Gude Landfill is a problem that must be dealt with.

"This is not a situation where the community is being unreasonable," said Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac, a former environmental lawyer. "This is not a situation where the community is overreacting. This is a situation where the community has done us a favor."

The more-than-100-acre landfill, at 600 East Gude Drive in Rockville, operated from 1964 until 1982. It has since housed a gas-to-energy facility which is scheduled to be updated later this year.

Karasik told the committee that while the county has kept data on the chemicals leaching from the landfill, the results were not reported to the Maryland Department of the Environment since 1984.

"It's not fair to say we've not been monitoring it," said Councilman George L. Leventhal (D-At Large) of Takoma Park. "It's not like we just let it sit there." The county performs maintenance at the site each quarter, including inspections and grading of low spots to promote proper storm water drainage.

Karasik noted that there was no evidence of any people being affected by the leaching chemicals. He said all the neighboring residents have municipal water supplies and although groundwater in the area—including nearby Rock Creek—is almost certainly contaminated, their drinking water is not affected.

Karasik said that kids and dogs probably should not play in Rock Creek.

The former landfill area is slated as a future park-site in the Shady Grove Master Plan.

"This has to become an asset for the county, and not a liability," Berliner said.

County Executive Isiah Leggett, citing cost, environmental and operations concerns, announced Jan. 26 that moving a bus lot to the approximately 100-acre landfill site would be "harmful to the community."