Kearny Mayor Al Santos is accusing the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority of allowing illegal dumping to occur at the Keegan Landfill, pointing to violations issued by the state as proof.

Residents have complained for months of foul odors wafting across the West Hudson town. On Thursday, Santos took to Facebook, posting photos and a video of what he said is sewage sludge being dumped illegally over the summer at the NJSEA-owned facility off Bergen Avenue.

“I think these are serious and ongoing violations,” Santos said of the landfill, which is only to be used for solid waste, such as demolition and construction debris, with some additional categories. “This is a blatant violation of environmental laws. It’s stunning how blatant it is.”

Santos said the footage was taken during the state Department of Environmental Protection’s inspection of the facility on July 3. A DEP inspector reported witnessing a truck dump “liquid sewage sludge material” that was hauled in from the North Bergen Municipal Utilities Authority. On Aug. 30, the DEP cited the NJSEA for classifying the alleged sludge as dry industrial waste and also cited the agency for other violations.

In its report, the DEP did not issue any monetary penalties against the NJSEA.

“Every delivery has to be documented and logged, but they used an inaccurate documentation to make it appear it was an approved solid waste,” Santos said. “They falsified the record.”

In a Sept. 13 response to the state investigator, NJSEA Director of Solid Waste and Natural Resources Thomas Marturano vigorously denied the allegations and asserted that liquid sewage sludge had never been accepted at the facility. “This is neither true nor supported by the facts,” Marturano wrote to DEP Inspector Andrea Zasoski.

Marturano argued that liquid sewage sludge is typically composed of 5 percent solids and 95 percent water. “What you observed was almost the exact opposite. It was at least 90 percent solids and less than 10 percent water,” he wrote.

“Issues regarding that inspection have been rectified,” NJSEA spokesman Brian Aberback said Friday in a statement. “Recent inspections by the NJDEP conducted in November 2018 noted that the facility was in compliance with DEP regulations.”

Aberback added that the DEP and the Hudson Regional Health Commission inspected the site with regard to the odor Santos referenced and no violations were reported.

A DEP spokesman said the agency is aware of the odor complaints and is investigating.

Hudson Regional Health Commission Deputy Director Angela DeQuina said HRHC set up a hotline after being asked by Santos in May to look into the odors. Between May 2018 and Jan. 11, 47 complaints were made.

The HRHC says it has not been able to verify that the odor has been coming from the Keegan Landfill and is not investigating any health risks, only what DeQuina called “nuisance type odor.” She said the odor comes and goes and instruments have never registered a reading.

Santos said he first learned of the August violation notice about 10 days ago after doing some research at the Hudson Regional Health Commission and being put in touch with a DEP official.

The mayor said the landfill operates on a temporary permit that must be renewed regularly. He said the town will ask that the permit not be renewed, and he wants to call for public hearings before any renewal. He wants any inappropriate dumping stopped and wants the NJSEA assessed all possible penalties.

Santos' allegations of illegal dumping is latest chapter in a yearslong conflict between the town and the state agency over the landfill.

In 2005, Kearny entered into and agreement with the now-defunct New Jersey Meadowlands Commission to reopen the dump. At the end of five years, the commission was to cap the site and construct sports fields at the location, Santos said.

But after five years, the commission asked for a five-year extension, saying not enough material had been dumped to cap the site and build the fields. The city agreed to a five-year extension but in 2016, the NJSEA condemned the property, put what if felt was the fair market value of the land into a bank account for Kearny and took the title, Santos said.

The two parties battled in court, with Kearny losing decisions in Hudson County Superior Court and at the Appellate Division, before the state Supreme Court declined to take the case. The town even petitioned for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider its case, to no avail.

The mayor said that right now there is regular monitoring at the landfill and the town has hired a consultant to monitor the site so that if any odor is detected, the town will be able to document what was dumped. He also said the town is considering placing cameras in the area to monitor activity.