Thursday, July 7, 2005
Landfill opening delayed
Officials say a new trash cell is needed first
By Jamie Turner
Staff Writer
Page County's Battle Creek Landfill has no room for more waste.
An aerial and ground survey conducted by SCS Engineers in May revealed that there is no air space for more trash in the current working phase of the landfill.
According to the state Department of Environmental Quality, Page County cannot regain its solid waste operating permit to reopen Battle Creek until it can demonstrate there is adequate room for additional waste disposal on site.
Page officials must construct cell No. 8 before Battle Creek can begin accepting more trash.
The county originally targeted July for reopening. Now Page Solid Waste Coordinator Rick Anderson said it's likely the facility will not be ready until November.
"Right now we don't have any air space," Anderson said. "And we can't reopen the landfill until we have air space."
The cell construction project is currently out to bid. Bids are due back by the end of the month. Once a construction company is chosen, Anderson said he expects the cell to be completed within 60 to 90 days.
Battle Creek has been closed since March 2004, when the state shut down the disposal facility under former operator National Waste Services (NWS) of Virginia. DEQ shutdown the landfill after numerous operational violations remained uncured by NWS.
For the past several months, county landfill employees have been busy repairing a host of items at Battle Creek that DEQ ordered the county to fix before the site could reopen under the county's operation.
A few of those included repairing stress cracks along the working phase, fixing the leachate collection sump, cleaning out the storm water pond, planting vegetation and stabilizing the slopes.
DEQ also requested Page County begin making repairs to a second list of items before reopening. County employees have nearly completed this list. Things like proper leachate management, repairing any leachate seeps and maintaining a 12-inch soil cover over the entire landfill.
"We bored holes in on the outside slopes and on the top of the landfill to make sure we had at least 12-inches of soil cover," Anderson said. "And in most cases there was more than 12 inches."
All holes allowing landfill gas to escape were also covered. And Anderson drafted a storm water management plan in order for the county to gain a storm water permit needed to reopen the landfill.
"We have completed all the county staff can do," Anderson said. "And I feel like we have met the intent of the requirements."
The biggest delay in reopening the landfill is having to construct cell No. 8.
"It is overfilled, which we all suspected," Anderson said. "Prior to April of 2001 the elevation of the landfill was 1,250 feet. But an amendment in April 2001 lowered the elevation to 1,190 feet, and right now we are at 1,227 feet."
Prior to the 2001 amendment by NWS the landfill would have likely had air space to reopen later this month.
Now county officials are forced to delay the opening until new cell construction is complete. In the meantime, Anderson said he is working on modifying the permit to allow for a 1,250 feet elevation.
"We want to modify the permit back to the original design contours of 1,250 feet," Anderson said. "So then we won't be overfilled and our elevations are adequate."
Without a permit modification, DEQ could force Page County to remove the excess waste from the working phase of the landfill in order to gain compliance.
Once Battle Creek does reopen, Anderson said the county will be accepting up to 250 tons of waste per day. With that amount of waste, Anderson said Phase I of the planned four-phase disposal facility could last the county another five years.
"If the entire landfill is operated properly it will last the county a minimum of 35 to 40 years," Anderson said.
Work completed at Battle Creek and the county's three trash collection sites to handle Page County's solid waste since Battle Creek was closed in 2004 has been handled by dedicated county employees, Anderson said.
"The staff at Battle Creek Landfill and at the three compactor sites has done a magnificent job of handling the waste streams of the county," Anderson said. "There has been some problems, but I personally feel that no one has any valid reason to complain under the current circumstances. The dedication among these employees to handle the county's waste and deal with the constant repair of equipment and other problems deserves to be commended."
We can be reached at pagenews@shentel.net.