Local farmland alleged to be a Native American burial ground was partially bulldozed to make way for a manure storage tank, but work in the area has been halted thanks in part to the work of a Cornell professor.

The site, outside of Trumansburg, is owned by Bergen Farms. Much to the chagrin of local residents, on the week of Nov. 2 Bergen Farms began to construct a three million gallon underground manure tank. Such tanks are considered advantageous for large farms, according to The Ithaca Journal, because they maintain nutrients until the manure can be used as fertilizer in the spring.

“The project would have created a lagoon lined with synthetics, and had it leaked, our drinking water would have been contaminated,” local resident Amy Puryear said. “It would have changed our neighborhood dramatically.”

Of particular concern to some residents was the possibility that the area is the location of an ancient Native American burial ground, as several documented Iroquois villages are located in close proximity.

The presence of a drumlin, a smooth glacial hill elongated in the direction of ice flow, led some to believe the site could be on a burial location. Oral tradition from the Cayuga Nation, a member of the Iroquois League, held that the local drumlins were ceremonial burial grounds and local legend refers to them as “Indian mounds,” according to Prof. Kurt Jordan, anthropology and American Indian studies.

“This is a unique geological feature,” Puryear said.

Some of the concerned locals contacted Jordan on Nov. 8. As soon as he learned about the situation, Jordan wrote a letter to the New York State Historic Preservation Office, which then ordered a halt to construction.

Because Bergen Farms is the recipient of state funding and a state grant had been allocated for construction of the tank, the SHPO was able to issue a directive to stop construction.

“There was confusion,” Jordan said. “The site should have been investigated before bulldozing began.”

Jordan worked with a team of local academics, including Prof. Michael Malpass, anthropology, Ithaca College, to ensure work was halted and the site was left as intact as possible.

But by the time construction ceased, four days of bulldozing had already taken place. Jordan, who is an archeologist, conducted a brief and inconclusive examination of the site last week. The examination was preliminary and only covered the surface of the area.

“The site was largely destroyed and there is little research potential,” he said.

It is unlikely Cornell archeologists or students will be involved in any further work at the site. According to Jordan, it is doubtful any excavations or research had been conducted by Cornell at the site before, and if conducted they were decades ago and poorly recorded.

But there is a chance that future archeological work will be conducted at the site by both for-profit private archeology companies and non-profit organizations, Jordan said. Any further work will be done in conjunction with the Cayuga Nation, which has been informed of the situation and will monitor future progress.

“Restoring the site will be a sensitive issue,” Puryear said.

For many, the fact that work was able to commence with little review was shocking.

“The only reason they were able to halt work was because of the state funding,” Puryear said. “This was an environmental and archeological issue.”

According to The Ithaca Journal, the lack of a permit process for such work surprised many local residents, who organized meetings over the past few weeks attended by representatives from the Bergen family and the Cayuga Nation.

Thanks to such efforts and the work of local academics, the site has a chance of restoration and further excavations in the area. According to Puryear, construction on the site would have probably continued if not for the intervention of Jordan.

“Professor Jordan was instrumental in saving the land,” she said.