A Staten Island landfill where toxic chemicals were illegally dumped is about to undergo a dramatic transformation paid for by the city and the state. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.

The Brookfield Landfill on Staten Island has long been a black mark on the city's history -- a place where toxic waste was illegally dumped for years.

Even though the city and state have known about the damage at the landfill for nearly three decades, they're just now getting around to cleaning it up.

"For far too long the people in this part of Staten Island have lived next to what can only be described as a fenced-off dump with a sordid history," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

That sordid history dates back to the 1970s, when a city employee took bribes and allowed illegal dumping on the site. Waste oil, sludge, heavy metals and industrial chemicals were among the toxic materials disposed of on the landfill.

"It is an example of municipal corruption at its worst and probably human behavior at its worst," said City Councilman James Oddo.

Officials broke ground Monday on the cleanup project, intended to turn the former dump into a 132-acre park. The $266 million project doesn't involve removing the waste. Instead, the land will be covered with a layer of soil, sealed with an impermeable cover that will act as a cap, followed by yet another layer of soil.

While the groundbreaking was trumpeted as a positive turning point for the community, questions remain about whether living nearby the landfill has had a negative impact on the health of local residents.

"We have done studies here and found that there was a higher rate of breast cancer in this general area," said Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro.

Molinaro went on to say that they have never been able to prove a direct connection between those rates and living near the Brookfield and Fresh Kills landfills on Staten Island.

"I think it's safe to say it's probably not good for your to live in close proximity to these, but nobody really knows," Bloomberg said.

The cleanup is scheduled to be finished by 2015, but the park may not open for several more years. The city will be monitoring the land to make sure nothing is emitted that could be harmful to the public.