Debris Pit Remediation

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) says the State of Delaware and New Castle County have dedicated funding to remediate old debris pits, and that both can help an owner who believes there is a debris pit on the property decide the best course of action. DNREC explains the history: trees and stumps cleared for land development were once piled up and burned, a practice banned in 1968. After that they were usually buried, until that practice was prohibited in 1988.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name debris pit records among its standard record sources. DNREC says that in areas where land was cleared in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, sinkholes have begun appearing where wood debris was buried. For a property developed in those decades, this is a condition the site visit and the interviews can bring to light.

Three Delaware details shape the reading.

• DNREC names three hazards. Sinkholes can open into voids that drop many feet, and these voids are sometimes narrow and devoid of oxygen. Settling of debris under a structure built over a pit can cause significant structural damage. And decaying wood can produce methane gas, which DNREC says can collect in concentrated pockets.
• DNREC names three signs. An area that has settled lower than the land around it, sometimes with cracks in the soil at its edge; plants and grass that will not grow, or grow poorly, in one area because of gases from decomposing debris; and open holes that suddenly appear. DNREC adds that each sign can have other causes: subsidence can come from poorly compacted fill, distressed vegetation from many other factors, and sinkholes from improperly channeled storm water or abandoned septic tanks that have degenerated.
• Help comes three ways. DNREC's page, last modified January 8, 2026, describes a do-it-yourself route, under which an owner may be eligible for up to $10,000 in reimbursement if the work follows state program specifications and is monitored by Division of Watershed Stewardship program staff, with documentation of costs required; a cost-share through the New Castle Conservation District; and remediation by the state free of charge, from a waiting list that DNREC says has been up to several years in the past.

Where to look a site up

The pages read link no list of reported debris pits or of remediated ones, and do not say whether DNREC keeps one. The first step DNREC gives for an owner is its Debris Pit Reporting Form, which asks for the property's address, subdivision or neighborhood and age of home, and a description of the problem. DNREC's Debris Pit Remediation contact is DNREC.Debrispit@state.de.us, 302-834-5555.

Getting the file

The debris pit pages do not give a records route. DNREC's FOIA page says the Delaware Freedom of Information Act ensures public access to public records held by DNREC; the route is on the DNREC FOIA Requests page.

Sources

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control pages, read October 13, 2026:

• Debris Pits, last modified January 8, 2026.
• Debris Pit Reporting Form, last modified October 13, 2025.
• DNREC FOIA Requests, last modified September 14, 2026.