Deadline looms for landfill to clear air
The Times-Reporter
BOLIVAR – As Friday’s deadline looms for Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility to clear up its odor problems or face consequences, landfill officials said they are working hard to resolve the problem.
In September, Director Joseph Koncelik of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency declared the landfill a public nuisance. He also set a Dec. 15 deadline for the landfill to clean up the problems.
Among those efforts were the results of ambian air monitoring at Countywide that were disclosed during the board of directors meeting of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District held Friday in the district office at Wilkshire Hills.
Countywide RDF is located in Pike Township of Stark County, just north of Bolivar.
Kurt Princic, environmental manager of the Northeast District Office of the OEPA, said air monitoring had been completed and shipped to labs. He said that the results do not show any levels exceeding health standards. The results of the lead testing have not been received by OEPA
“The tests do not show any long- or short-term health effects from the odors coming from Countywide,” Princic said. “The odors can cause health effects and make people sick with headaches and nausea. The symptoms are real, but not a health risk. The odor at Countywide is still out there. It is not as bad.”
He said that all the monitoring wells at the site are connected and being sent to flare so that they will burn away released fumes and odors.
“There are 60 wells concentrated around the 30-acre problem area,” he said. “Countywide still needs to install the remaining plastic tarp that holds the gas and send it to the flares. That is expected to be completed by Dec. 15. There is about 22 acres covered and about nine more acres to be covered.
“My staff will be conducting a surveillance to get any odor complaints, which will be sent to Canton Air Agency.”
OEPA has sent notifications to Ohio landfills they need to take precautions about any aluminum dross/salt cake that was placed in their facility. Officials believe dross/salt cake is causing the odor problem and generating heat that pushes out the gas. Countywide accepted between 200,000 to 300,000 tons of aluminum dross/salt cake when Barmet Aluminum at Uhrichsville was cleaned up. The landfill stopped accepting dross in 2001. It is in four cells in the original 88 acres where the problem is occurring. The landfill also accepted aluminum foundry waste in small quantities until July 2006.
According to OEPA officials, the deterioration of the garbage is at a much faster rate, which caused a subsidence problem in some areas of the landfill. The material was buried and water added to it during the recirculation process causing the odor problem.
According to Tuscarawas County Commissioner Kerry Metzger, Countywide was pumping 460,000 to 600,000 gallons of leachate from the site a month. From May to August 2006, crews pumped 2 million gallons. Currently, the facility is pumping 3 million gallons per month and that could reach 6 million gallons per month, he said.
“If this leachate is not coming from the rapid decomposition of trash, where is it coming from,” asked Metzger after the meeting.
Tuscarawas County Commissioner Chris Abbuhl asked Princic what will eventually happen to the liner.
“When the gas goes down in the flares, we know it is working. If not, we will have some concerns,” Princic said.
Metzger requested that OEPA provide, in a timely fashion, information on which cells contain the dross/salt cake, where it is located and what impact the material will cause in the future at the landfill.
“I would also like to know what effects the heat has on the liner itself and if the liner underneath has been affected,” Metzger said.
Princic said tests revealed the temperature has been as high as 250 degrees, but he doesn’t believe the liner has been affected.
“We have it on our radar screen and it would have to be 260 degrees before the liner would melt,” he said. “We would love the odor to go away, but the liner temperatures are a concern.”
Bill Skowronski, district chief of the Northeast District Office at Twinsburg, said the staff has concerns about the temperature.
Princic said leachate is no longer recirculated at the site and is stored in a holding tank and then trucks haul it to a site at Alliance. He said the accelerated subsidence is causing more leachate to be generated for pumping.
Metzger asked if there is any further horizontal movement of the landfill and asked OEPA to look at an independent study to make sure the berm around the landfill has solved the movement problem.
“The community has no trust in Countywide, and the data is coming from them,” Metzger said.
Skowronski said OEPA will consider the request and have information at the board meeting Jan. 5 at 9:30 a.m.
Metzger also asked who will review Countrywide’s permit if the odor persists. He was told the ultimate decision is made by the OEPA director.
Tim Vandersall, general manager at Countywide, which is owned by Republic Services of Ohio, said they are making great progress with the groundwater system and it is so sensitive that if there would be a problem it would show up immediately.
“There is no reason that we should not be trusted,” Vandersall said. “We have submitted data for the past 15 years.”
In a letter sent by Countywide to citizens, the company said it is confident that it will be able to sufficiently comply with OEPA’s findings and orders. The letter states the company is completely committed to resolving the odor issues and said Countywide will do whatever it takes to completely resolve these odors – not stopping on Dec. 15 if there is still work to be done.
In other business, board members hired Michael Baker of Pennsylvania as a hydrogeology consultant at a cost of $20,000 after a 60-minute executive session. Baker will be researching documents on Countywide and plans to visit the landfill before Dec. 21.
Board members also set a policy committee meeting for Friday at 9:30 to review the district’s draft solid waste plan.
