In the Margins: Sanitary sewer seems best solution for Richfield Landfill concerns - The Flint Journal - MLive.com

The Flint Journal
Original story posted Oct. 13 on MLive.com

RICHFIELD TWP. — Now that angry residents have had their say, it’s up to the state Department of Environmental Quality to decide by Dec. 12 if  Richfield Management will be allowed to expand its landfill in Richfield Township.

For almost three hours Wednesday night, people with property around the controversial landfill on East Mt. Morris Road and local officials let DEQ representatives know they opposed a 7.51-acre expansion without safeguards from groundwater seeping into Holloway Reservoir, Genesee County’s backup water source for 400,000 people.

FJ: This is an ongoing drama of dispute and concern over landfill leachate ever since its most recent owners reopened the facility in 2002.

The residents are right. No landfill expansion should come without a permanent solution to keep contaminated leachate from groundwater and the Flint River.

With the landfill trucking the watery waste from the site for treatment now, and its representatives stating in June that they definitely don’t plan an onsite treatment plant, a proposal that county officials back appears to have the most promise:

“I ask you to consider a sanitary sewer for a permanent fix to this site before a permit is issued,” said Jeff Wright, Genesee County Drain Commissioner.

Wright, one of 21 speakers at a public hearing in Siple Elementary School, said Richfield’s current practice of trucking contaminated liquids from the 393-acre site is “temporary at best.”

Wright said an earlier estimate that it would cost $12 million to hook up to sanitary sewers in reality is $2 million, and could be built in nine months.

FJ: That’s quite an overage on the estimate, but we’ll take the lower figure gladly.
It would mean an end to years of arguing over the control of leachate from the landfill, and worries that it reaches nearby Holloway Reservoir.

“This is the long-term solution to that problem,” he said of the runoff. 

Wright’s argument supported a resolution unanimously approved earlier Wednesday Oct. 12 by the Genesee County Board of Commissioners.

It said that as a condition for approval of the expansion, the DEQ should require Richfield to construct a connection to the county sanitary sewer system.

FJ: We agree.

A sewer line running to the landfill would be as close to a permanent fix to the leachate problem as possible.

What worries us is what happens to the leachate years hence, if or when the landfill is finally full or closed? Would those trucks continue to haul away thousands of gallons of that waste for treatment every day?

The county board resolution, presented by Patrick Gleason, local representative on the county unit, noted that there have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to work with Richfield Management on the issue.

“The construction of a connection to the sanitary sewer system provides the best and most environmentally sound option to managing leachate and wastewater generated from the Richfield landfill, both presently and for future generations,” the resolution stated.

FJ: The landfill owners years ago were allowed to reopen the facility on the condition that they address any lingering concerns from its operations in the past. Those legacy problems have been worse than the company had supposed, one of its representatives said several years ago.

Later, Bernie Rumbold, president of parent organization Richfield Equities, said Richfield would consider hooking up to the sewer line.

“We have been evaluating all kinds of options,” he said. “We are looking at all kinds of alternatives.”

“We are not commenting until we consider our decision,” he added. “We will work with the DEQ on our decision.”

FJ: We understand that this is a business, and that the ultimate cost of any solution will be a main factor.

Surely, though, a permanent sewer line would be cheaper in the long run — and more reliable — than running tankers from the landfill every day.

Expansion has been the long-term goal since the company bought and reopened the facility in 2002. It now operates a 41-acre landfill with 120 truck drivers on waste pickup, most who live in Genesee County, said Scott Kleinfield, operational manager.
Rebecca Fedewa, director of the Flint River Watershed Coalition, said the Flint River that passes through the area is vital to the community.

“This is an organization that has a very bad track record,” she said, pointing to almost a decade of problems with the landfill.

In 2008, the DEQ approved a construction permit allowing Richfield Management to build a third containment cell at its site. 

FJ: Then, as now, the leachate was a primary worry and a major factor in the hearings.

Let the worry and the current permitting roadblock for this business end with a permanent solution to the landfill’s leachate.

Connect it to the county sanitary sewer system.
 

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White Township committee voices anger at local compost facility - The Express Times - LehighValleyLive.com

The White Township Committee chastised a township composting facility Thursday night for the continued discharge of foul-smelling materials onto adjacent properties, farm fields and the Delaware River.

Officials say Nature's Choice off Foul Rift Road has caused havoc for residents since March because its drainage system has failed to contain rainwater laced with decomposing leaves and other natural waste.

Known as compost leachate, the runoff is "murky, smelly, stinky stuff," Mayor Sam Race said.

"It's actually a horrible situation," he said.

According to Race, Nature's Choice told the township it would get necessary permits and begin engineering work to fix the system by the end of last month.

An Aug. 23 meeting with the township's attorney, engineer and Race revealed neither step took place, officials said. 

"If we could close 'em down, I'd vote tonight to close 'em down," Committeeman Jeff Herb said Thursday.

Timeline confusion

Nature's Choice Vice President Eugene Ciarkowski said Friday the township committee was confusing the company's short-term and long-term plans to fix the problem and the governing body was never given a set timeline for repairs.

The long-term plan involves construction of retention basins and new barriers to control water, he said.

The short-term plan, which he said has been completed, involved reinforcement of existing barriers, removal of standing water from the "problem area" and wells dug to test the permeability of soil, Ciarkowski said.

Race said Friday the committee was not confused but was told in June the company would be getting a discharge permit by the end of August.

Race said what the company has done so far is "extremely minimal."

The composting facility has been cited twice since 2008 by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for water-related violations.

'Not toxic ... but fish kills could occur'

The DEP issued a violation in July for unauthorized discharge of the leachate, which is created when stormwater passes through decomposing materials the company collects, department spokesman Larry Hajna said.

According to a composting manual from Rutgers University and available through the DEP's website, "Pollution of surface waters (lakes, streams) is the other major concern with leachate.
While leachate from leaf composting is generally not toxic, it may deplete the dissolved oxygen in the water, possibly even to the point where fish kills could occur. Because of its dark color, it might also lead to a discoloration of the water."

Ciarkowski said the committee probably became concerned with the facility after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. But township officials say residents have complained since March.

Ciarkowski declined comment on the March date but said the facility faced "significant rains over the spring and summer."

He said Nature's Choice was "constructing a system at significant expense that will, hopefully, make the town administration happy and also be what the surrounding property owners want to see."

Race and committee members Thursday were concerned with stormwater that night as the Delaware River flooded a few miles away.

"In these heavy rains, there is a very serious problem occurring," Race said. "Every time it rains, that material that has been sitting around there goes over to the neighboring properties."

He added: "If some of the rest of us were doing that we would be fined and put in jail."

The committee decided to give the company until the end of September to re-work its drainage system.

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Anaerobic Digestion News: Feces-Powered Motorcycle? Bullsh*t What Do You Thi...

Anaerobic Digestion News: Feces-Powered Motorcycle? Bullsh*t What Do You Thi...: Let us put the record straight! A three-wheeled motorbike that runs on the rider's feces? It sounded much too unsanitary to be true. Sure e...

Layon built to protect: New landfill designed to exceed requirements - Pacific Daily News

Guam's new Layon Landfill has been carefully crafted -- unlike its predecessor, the Ordot dump -- to protect human health and the environment.

That means no more polluted water dripping into the rivers, no more spontaneous fires that burn for days, no more hordes of flies that blacken the sky and any surface they land on.

The Ordot dump, which was shut down on Aug. 31, was first found in violation of the Clean Water Act in 1986. In 2004 the District Court of Guam issued a consent order to close the foul dump and open a new landfill. But by 2008, no progress had been made, so the court appointed a federal receiver to oversee the closure of the dump and the building of a new landfill. Layon opened on Sept. 1 much to the relief of Ordot residents.

So how does the landfill work?

Paul Baron of Winzler & Kelly, an engineering firm that provides construction management services for the landfill, and Chris Lund of Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, the federal receiver, filled us in.

First, a landfill is very different from a dump. A landfill, the experts emphasized, has controls that mitigate the garbage's impact on the environment and community. A dump is basically just an area where people pile up trash. The Layon Landfill's environmental controls exceed both Guam and federal requirements for environmental protection, according to federal receiver Gershman, Brickner & Bratton.

To understand how the landfill works, perhaps it's best to start at the beginning: the waste bins outside of houses, apartments and commercial buildings. This trash is collected and hauled to a transfer station, where trash is stored until it is brought to the landfill. There, waste is preliminarily scanned for radiation -- something that might be found in medical waste -- and then loaded up in a huge semi-trailer truck to be carried to Layon, Baron said.

Layon Landfill is deep in Inarajan, where the fenced-in facility sticks out against the wild and mountainous backdrop. The truck coming from the transfer station can carry up to 29 tons of trash, so only about 10 truckloads have to be filled for a day's trash. The truck rumbles down the newly paved road leading to the landfill and, upon entrance, is weighed and undergoes one more radiation check before being allowed to go to the unloading spot. If radiation is found, the truck is sent back to the transfer station where the waste is inspected.

The truck makes its way to the "cells" -- vast, shallow pits where trash will be dumped, compacted, covered with soil, and built up until capacity is reached. Only two cells of 11 have been built, but all together, these cells should hold trash for about 50 years or longer, depending on how much people reduce, reuse and recycle, according to Lund.

The cells, which look like holes cut into the earth, actually extend deeper beneath the ground in a series of carefully engineered layers meant to protect the outside of the landfill from the pollutants inside it.

The cells are covered with a rain cap, a white liner that collects and leads rain water away from trash. The rain cap is peeled away as needed, so trash can be dumped onto the soil beneath it. The 3-foot thick soil is a protective layer for the complex liner system below, that collects leachate, the polluted water that filters through the trash and into the ground, said the experts.

The trash comes out of the back of the truck, which has a moving floor that shuffles the waste out. Once in the cell, it is compacted by bulldozers, and covered at the end of the day. A tarp can be used until there is too much trash, in which case soil is dumped over everything.

Rain that falls on the trash seeps through the waste, becoming leachate. The leachate, in turn, seeps through the soil, and hits the primary "leachate collection layer." This layer begins with a thin, 3/4 of an inch thick geocomposite, a soft, fuzzy, carpet-like material that soaks up the polluted water like a sponge and directs it to the next part of the layer, a pipeline. The pipeline pumps the water to a leachate collection tank and then straight to the Inarajan Waste Water Treatment Plant, experts said.

Under the geocomposite is the "moisture-barrier layer." It's composed of a hard, rough, geomembrane, a tough plastic that is less than half an inch thick. This layer shouldn't allow much liquid through.

Right below this is a secondary leachate-collection layer and moisture-barrier layer, which does the exact same thing -- back up against the top layers.

Then there is one more protection -- 3 feet of low permeability soil. By now, no leachate should have gotten through. In many landfills there is only the primary leachate collection layer and moisture-barrier layer, coupled with the low permeability soil. Layon's secondary
leachate collection and moisture-barrier layers puts the landfill a step above others.

Underneath it all is a subdrain that collects clean groundwater, and keeps it away from the cells. This subdrain takes water that may be pushing up toward the landfill and pipes it to a collection tank. The water is tested before being discharged back into nature, experts said.

Leachate isn't the only pollution the trash creates. There's also gas, which is formed as substances interact and decay. Gas pipes will be added in the waste collection area as waste accumulates. The landfill gas may be burned off, or used as a fuel source, depending on the quality and quantity of the gas that is generated.

That's how the first two cells work -- future cells that are built may vary, depending on changing regulations or improved technology.

Eventually the cells will build up so that they form a small hill that rises more than 100 feet above ground. Then they will be capped, or permanently closed, and put into a 30-year, post-closure care program that will make sure the site is maintained properly, said Lund.

While the Layon Landfill is an improvement over the Ordot dump, it is, essentially, a temporary solution. Once the landfill is full, another will have to be built. Officials stressed the importance of waste reduction measures, such as recycling, to lengthen the landfill's life-span.

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High water levels hinder leachate pipeline construction project in Caribou area

CARIBOU, Maine — High water levels of the Little Madawaska River have hindered two pipeline construction projects, both literally a stone’s throw from completion.
Standing on the bank off Grimes Mill Road on Sept. 9, Mark Draper watched as water rushed downstream at 917 cubic feet per second — more than 800 cubic feet per second higher than normal based on a U.S. Geological Survey average for the last three years.
“Last year at this time you could walk across this river and not get your feet wet,” said Draper, solid waste director of the Tri-Community Landfill.
Tri-Community Landfill is 175 feet from completing a 2.3-mile pipeline project to connect the landfill to the Caribou Utilities District, where the landfill’s leachate — water that has come into contact with garbage — will be treated.
Until the pipeline is completed, Tri-Community employees will continue hauling the leachate to the CUD one 6,300-gallon truckload at a time.
As Draper explained, CUD didn’t have the capacity to accept Tri-Community’s leachate when the landfill was first built, and there wasn’t a feasible way to pipe the leachate to Fort Fairfield for treatment.
Now that Caribou has the capacity for the leachate, the pipeline will save Tri-Community employees roughly 1,000 trips a year hauling approximately 6 million gallons of leachate.
But nature seemed to have other plans for the project as record-setting precipitation this summer has caused the Little Madawaska River to swell and rage along. Workers with Soderberg Construction considered building a cofferdam to push river water to one side in order to lay two 6-inch pipes across the riverbed — one pipe for daily operations and the other as a backup. But the high, rushing water dampened that plan.
Instead, officials with Tri-Community and Soderberg opted to go with directional drilling under the river — essentially drilling down from one bank, under the river, and over to the opposite bank.
Subcontractors with Enterprise Trenchless Technologies Inc. of Lisbon Falls were on-site Tuesday afternoon for the directional drilling under the river, which will allow the two ends of the pipeline finally to meet after a season of opposing each other from the banks of the Little Madawaska. The project is likely to be completed this week.
Expediting the weather-delayed project by drilling and essentially bypassing the river will cost an estimated $18,000. That cost will be split between the contractor and Tri-Community. The total projected cost of the leachate pipeline project is approximately $1.7 million, which includes engineering, easements for right of way, environmental permits and construction.
What Draper found most frustrating was that the rain not only delayed the project but also added to the amount of leachate that needed to be treated.
But Tri-Community Landfill isn’t the only entity that has been trying in vain to cross the Little Madawaska River this summer; just downstream, the Greater Limestone Water and Sewer District also is just shy of completing a pipeline project. That district is trying to connect to an existing Caribou Utilities District pipeline so its treated waste can reach the Aroostook River.
Limestone Water and Sewer Director Jim Leighton explained that directional drilling isn’t an option for that project because the pipe the district plans to run under the river has a diameter of 21 inches.
Like the Tri-Community project, efforts to build a cofferdam earlier this summer were a wash.
“So now we’re doing the waiting game,” Leighton said.
Since Sept. 6 and 7, when the river was rushing at more than 2,500 cubic feet per second — bearing in mind a gallon of water weighs just more than 8 pounds — the water level has been dropping steadily. At the beginning of this week, the river was “down” to 374 cubic feet per second. Waiting out the weather isn’t a problem for LWSC, as a few weeks’ delay won’t change the project’s cost.
Leighton is confident that the project will find a window this fall.
“This [pipeline under the river] will connect us to the Aroostook River, then it’s just a matter of turning a couple of valves and we’ll be able to start utilizing the pipeline,” Leighton said.
Leighton also pre-emptively clarified that while the Greater Limestone Water and Sewer District is connecting its pipeline with that of the Caribou Utilities District in order to reach the Aroostook River, all of Limestone’s wastewater still will be treated in Limestone — it’s not being transported to Caribou. Rather, LWSD is using the same diffuser pipe as CUD to discharge into the Aroostook River.
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Northumberland County (US) tackles its trash - including leachate

Northumberland recycles. COBOURG US -- Elena Hogan / Northumberland News NORTHUMBERLAND -- The Brighton landfill is one of two actively used by the seven municipalities in Northumberland County for waste disposal.

In operation since 1975, it is used for residential, industrial, commercial and institutional waste. Until 1991 when Northumberland County assumed responsibility for waste management, the Brighton landfill was operated by the town of Brighton and townships of Brighton and Murray.

It is certified and approved by the Ministry of Environment to accept any domestic (Northumberland County only) solid (non-liquid) non-hazardous (fairly benign) waste.

"Typically we get regular household garbage, as well as commercial, construction and demolition, and industrial material brought in," said Adam McCue, Northumberland County waste manager. "We get a little bit of everything and the kitchen sink here."

The Brighton site is 22.79 hectares in size with 13.4 hectares approved for landfill use. Right now, based on the current volumes coming in on a yearly basis and projections going forward, Mr. McCue said the County anticipates the site will be at capacity by around 2016.

"We're in the process of an environmental assessment to expand the landfill extending its life by another seven years," said Mr. McCue. "We will dig up the old portion of the landfill that is unlined and put the waste into lined sections of the landfill already built. Through this we'll extend the landfill's capacity to 2023."

Waste coming into the Brighton site between 1975 and 2007 is currently held in the old sections of the landfill, explained Mr. McCue, which are considered unlined or natural attenuation portions. The lined sections of the landfill house all County waste from 2007 on and have an intricate lining and leachate collection system in them.

Leachate is water that has come in contact with waste and can potentially seep down into groundwater and contaminate it, if not managed correctly. Mr. McCue said the lining is made up of a number of layers working together to prevent the seepage of leachate. Instead it is collected and sent to a waste water treatment plant.

"Through tipping fees at the Brighton and Seymour landfills and the Bewdley transfer station, we get about $2 million in revenue which is used to off-set operational costs of the landfills in Northumberland County," said Mr. McCue.

Curbside haulers come in weekly and dispose of the County's garbage, explained Mr. McCue. Individual residents also bring small loads to the site. A transfer station and drop-off location is set up for residents with bins for residential garbage, scrap metal, leaf and yard waste, tires, and Freon-containing appliances.

Currently, Northumberland County diverts 40 per cent of its waste through various programs which include the curbside blue box program, the household hazardous waste program, the electronic waste program, leaf and yard waste program, and the diversion of scrap metal, tires and Freon-containing appliances.

"Through industry funded stewardship programs like Ontario Tires Stewardship (tires) and Stewardship Ontario (hazardous waste), we get money back for collecting and diverting certain materials," said Mr. McCue. "The stewardship collects money from producers of those products and distributes the funds to everyone involved in collecting the waste from that product.

"Tires are recycled into rubber crumb for construction use such as playgrounds," he continued. "Also, if there's enough tread on them and it's still a worthwhile tire, they may send it down to Central America or other countries that don't require as much tread to drive."

Mr. McCue noted there was still a fair amount of waste coming into the landfill that could be diverted, the largest portion being food waste.

"The next easiest thing to divert from waste right now is the organics, the compostable fraction," he said. "We do sell backyard composters and some people use them but a process where you pick up the organic waste on a weekly or bi-weekly basis is the optimum way and best practice at getting that diverted."

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St. Lucie's new way of getting rid of leachate costs less, is environmentally ... - TCPalm

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Officials are changing the way the county gets rid of landfill water that comes in contact with garbage.

And they said the environmentally friendly move would save the county about $1.2 million a year.

(The video is believed to be about a local service to St Lucie, but is not associated otherwise with this post.)

County commissioners agreed at their Tuesday morning meeting to build a $384,000 pipe to pump the liquid underground to the deep injection well at the Treasure Coast Energy Center on Glades Cut-Off Road near the landfill. Only Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky dissented.

The center is owned by the Florida Municipal Power Agency and operated by the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority.

For the past two years, the county has paid a company, Aqua Clean, to haul the county's leachate to the company's disposal site in Polk County, said County Solid Waste Division Director Ron Roberts. Leachate is water at the landfill that passes through garbage.

The county awarded the company a contract in July 2009 for a disposal rate of $130 per thousand gallons. In the first year, the county paid $1.8 million to truck the leachate. The county generated 38,000 gallons of leachate daily.

But the county's contract with Aqua Clean expires in June. Roberts said the county would have to increase its landfill disposal fees by nearly $8 per ton to keep up with the county's disposal rate of leachate.

Instead, Roberts said the county would save between $10 million and $20 million over the life of the 20-year agreement to use the well compared to the county's current contract.

Through the new method of leachate disposal, the county would be charged 14 cents per thousand gallons with a minimum monthly charge of $20,800.

The county could get out of the contract by giving 180 days notice, but neither the county nor the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority could cancel the contract in the first few years without paying $300,000 the first year, $200,000 the second year and $100,000 the third year.

Besides saving money, county officials and academic professionals said the county choosing to pump its leachate rather than haul it is more environmentally friendly.

Dr. Fred Bloetscher, an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University's Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering, spoke at the meeting about the safety of deep injection wells.

Bloetscher said deep injection wells never have endangered water supplies in South Florida.

"(Deep) injection wells have less risk associated with them than any other disposal option," he said.

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Leachate A Contributory Factor When Delta Rids Itself of Environmental Nightmare Property - Vancouver Sun

METRO VANCOUVER -- Delta has rid itself of a costly headache by finally finding someone willing to take the contaminated Delta Shake and Shingle site off its hands.

Delta council approved a transfer agreement this week with Ocean Trailer to sell the former demolition landfill property for a dollar.

"We are not responsible for mitigation and we don't want to mitigate. We didn't want that place in the first place," an elated Mayor Lois Jackson told the Optimist this week.

A large area of the old landfill was acquired by Delta through a tax default following a major fire over a decade ago. Delta owns two of the three parcels that make up the site located adjacent to where the South Fraser Perimeter Road is being constructed.

"The closure and re-development of the former Delta Shake and Shingle site is a challenging, long-term proposition that involves a considerable financial commitment as well as the assumption of various environmental risks and liabilities," a report to council states.

Delta has tried to sell the property before, including an offer for sale in 2002 that produced no results.

The considerable costs to clean up and monitor the site and meet provincial regulations make it a tough sell, according to the report, which also stated land use options could be limited because as the waste material continues to degrade and settle over many years, landfill gas and leachate would be produced and create "very challenging" conditions for building construction.

The site in the 8900-block of River Way and 9000-block of River Road has been inactive since a major fire burned there for 10 weeks in 1999, prompting Delta to declare a state of emergency.

The province permitted several demolition landfills to operate in the area beginning in the mid-1980s, despite concerns by Delta the sites were too close to the Fraser River and Burns Bog, both ecologically sensitive areas.

The underground fire was fully extinguished at a cost of more than $4 million. The owner was eventually fined $75,000 in provincial court.

The extinguished material was placed back into the landfill in a fire-proof manner, but, according to the report, at its current state the landfilled areas have negative or, at best, negligible value. The closure costs for the entire site are estimated to be $7.5 million, not including the post-closure monitoring costs as well as the costs of discharging leachate.

"You have to appreciate that on paper, the assessed value may be $7 million, but we are told it's cost at least $7 million to bring it back," said Jackson

"It's a huge undertaking, so we're giving them (Ocean Trailer) a break on DCCs (development cost charges), we're giving them a break for five years on taxation to be held at a certain level. This is an investment for Delta's future, " Jackson said.

Ocean Trailer, a Coquitlam-based trailer and container business that has an adjacent facility on River Road, will assume responsibility for the closure of the municipally-owned parcels.

The company plans to use the site for open storage.

Jackson said the company would also relocate to Delta and build a new head office.

The Delta Shake and Shingle site was in the news a couple of years ago when the municipality pitched it as a potential home for a new Lower Mainland remand centre.

The province announced the jail would be located in Surrey, prompting Delta to look at other options, including selling it to private interests.

Meantime, Delta is asking the province to review its remediation regulations to encourage the private owner of the third parcel of the site to also take steps to clean up the property.

All the demolition landfills on River Road are now closed.

© Copyright Delta Optimist

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Managing the legacy of landfill - Waste Management World

Eastern Daily Press - September 24, 2011

The vast mountains of decaying rubbish buried beneath Norfolk's landscape may be hidden from view - but their potential environmental consequences are not so easily masked. Waste dumped by generations of families and businesses is still decomposing, oozing toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases which could threaten their natural surroundings.

But the challenge of managing our landfill legacy is being met through an innovative engineering effort, while policy-makers continue battling to find more sustainable ways to dispose of the refuse left by a growing population.

Norfolk County Council is responsible for more than 150 closed landfills, of which six are the larger "permitted" sites which were still operating by the time new environmental regulations came into force in the 1990s. Teams of technicians work to a double remit: to monitor and minimise the ecological impact of gas and leachate generated by so much buried waste, and to find ways to maximise income from its useful by-product - methane.

Turning the greenhouse gas into energy at four sites is currently worth about £280,000 per year to the county council, 22pc of the total costs for managing the authority's closed landfills.

Meanwhile, water percolates through rotting rubbish, collecting chemical contaminants as it goes, and the resulting leachate must be routinely monitored, abstracted and sent away for treatment. In all, keeping permitted sites in compliance with environmental regulations costs taxpayers about £1.4m per year.

Bill Borrett, Norfolk's cabinet member for environment and waste, said: "I think people have got to understand more about landfill, because once you understand the amount it costs, the environmental hazards and the amount of space it takes up, people become more aware of the legacy of their waste and the importance of recycling.

"It is not simply put into a hole and forgotten about - there is years of work in maintaining the land after that." The site at Mayton Wood, near Coltishall, accepted 1.5m tonnes of commercial, industrial and household waste between 1971 and 2003. The waste is grouped into huge domed "cells" contained by a liner and capping system.

The base of the landfill consists of a clay base, followed by a waterproof plastic membrane which is protected by a shingle or sand drainage layer above it. At the top, a similar set of layers encase the waste - along with the gas and liquids - in an impermeable bowl, with the angled sides draining any leachate to a collection sump at the bottom. Meanwhile, rainwater is prevented from getting into the landfill, and is instead channelled to the perimeter across the domed surface.

Hydrogeologist Tim Wilkins regularly samples, monitors and controls leachate levels with the help of a computerised system of wells and pumps. "Leachate is what you get when water percolates through the waste and picks up contaminants," he said. "Some of it comes out looking like coffee and smells quite nasty. The main constituent is ammoniacal nitrogen, and it can be quite toxic to the aquatic environment.

"We have got 11 wells on this site and each has a pump and a level sensor which sense the level of the liquid. The pumps are operated automatically when the leachate reaches a level of one metre above the base layer. "All the permitted sites are now within compliance, but when we took them over (in 2008) they generally had 14-15 metres of leachate. They were all saturated, which meant there was more chance of the leachate escaping."

About 70 gas wells are also sunk into the Mayton Wood waste to harness landfill emissions which are typically 45pc methane, 25pc carbon dioxide and the remainder mostly nitrogen. The gas is drawn into perforated pipes which reach 10 to 16m underground to the base of the cell, and are connected through a network of sealed pipes above ground to a powerful fan at the on-site energy plant. The generator draws in 450 cubic metres of gas per hour and converts it to electricity which is sold on to the National Grid, with the profits shared by the council and the private plant operator.

Des Holmes, the council's landfill gas project officer, said: "We're talking about the equivalent of 45 double-decker buses full of gas
being sucked out of the ground every hour. The whole site is under negative suction. "The machinery is basically like a large diesel engine that has been converted to run on landfill gas.

It produces 600kW/h, enough for 500 homes, and it is constant. The only time it stops is when it breaks down, but it can keep going at that rate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "The gas will diminish over the years, but I reckon we have got about 15 years until it stops becoming economic to produce electricity here." Gas production at closed landfills is estimated to reduce by 10pc each year as the waste degrades, prompting efforts to find more innovative ways of squeezing every last pound out of the resource. The council's strategic waste manager Paul Borrett said there was a "fine balance" between preventing rainwater seeping into the site, and keeping the waste damp enough to maintain chemical reactions.

"The amount of rain water that collects on the site is more than we can cope with, but we want the waste to stay wet so it continues to produce gas," he said. "In trying to reduce the 'tail' of the gas production, we are looking into recycling some of the leachate we have collected back through the waste. Once it gets saturated or if it dried up, we have got no gas production and no income - so it is a fine balance." The generating plant at Mayton Wood also contains a gas flare, to safely burn off any potentially dangerous pressure build-ups of methane, which is estimated to be 21 times more dangerous as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Work on the landfill is continuous as the waste compacts, changing the shape of the cap and the effectiveness of the wells. But Paul Borrett said although it could take several decades for landfills to settle, there were plenty of examples of where they had been replanted as woodland, public amenities or even a pitch and putt course.

"A lot of people's view of landfill is a big pit where people throw rubbish away - an eyesore," he said. "But we have moved on from that. We manage our landfills here in Norfolk and you can absolutely get to the point where they can be turned into something that's more useable - but we do have ongoing respon-sibilities and liabilities."

Copyright 2011 Archant Regional Limited All Rights Reserved

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Negative impact of landfill and leachate leakage is reduced by choice of liner - Recycling News (press release)

Brussels -- A new study has shown that contamination of groundwater by hazardous substances contained in waste liquid from landfill sites known as leachate - could be significantly reduced by choosing specific types of material to line the landfill reactors. A major environmental concern is that water can become contaminated with a large number of hazardous substances as it percolates through the solid waste. The toxic liquid known as leachate can then potentially infiltrate groundwater sources as it migrates into the surrounding landscape.

European law requires that landfill reactors are lined to mitigate groundwater contamination. However, several different materials for the liners are available and research shows that transport of leachate into the surroundings may still be possible through these liners. The new research tested four types of liner within a simulated landfill scenario to assess whether contamination of groundwater is affected by the choice of material.

The scientists looked specifically at contamination by organic phenol compounds and inorganic heavy metals (lead, copper, zinc, chromium, cadmium and nickel). Phenols are used heavily in the plastic and chemical industries and have been linked to endocrine (hormone) disruption in humans. Accumulation of heavy metals in the body can lead to cancer, disruption of the central nervous system, liver and kidneys.

Four different liners tested

The scientists assembled four test-scale landfill reactors (R1 to R4), each with a different liner: compacted clay (R1), compacted clay and geomembrane (R2), a lining with an extra bentonite layer (R3) and a lining with an extra zeolite layer (R4). Each reactor was filled with 150 kg of municipal solid waste from a real landfill site in Istanbul, Turkey. The scientists filled a cavity at the bottom of each reactor with distilled water to represent groundwater. Leachate and model groundwater samples were collected from each reactor at monthly intervals during the experimental period (540 days) and tested for contamination.

After 540 days, lead and chromium concentrations of 0.2 and 0.5 mg per litre were found in the leachate but were below the limit of detection in the groundwater samples. Zinc and copper in the groundwater also decreased by around 60 percent in R1 and R2 and up to 95 percent in R3 and R4, compared to maximum concentrations in the leachate. The groundwater concentration of nitrophenols; a particularly hazardous class of phenol - increased with time in all four reactors.

However, the transport efficiency varied significantly. This was expressed by calculating the average groundwater concentration for the total experimental period as a percentage of the average leachate concentration, i.e. the proportion of nitrophenol in the leachate that leaked through to the groundwater.

Different migration of contaminants

The average transport efficiency for three different nitrophenols was significantly lower for R3 (26 percent) and R4 (23 percent) than for R1 (34 percent) and R2 (39 percent), which the scientists attributed to the absorption of nitrophenols by the bentonite and zeolite layers in the R3 and R4 liners. Other organic contaminants showed similar trends and overall, the scientists showed that using a bentonite or zeolite layer in the lining of a landfill reactor could reduce the migration of organic contaminants into groundwater by between 30 ? 50 percent.

The scientists recommended more stringent regulations for landfill liners to allow better control over leachate contamination of
groundwater. On-line monitoring systems integrated into landfill sites will also help to monitor groundwater quality.

Original source: Varank, G., Demir, A., Top, S. et al. 2011. Migration behaviour of landfill leachate contaminants through alternative composite liners. Science of the Total Environment. 409; 3183-3196.

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Sunny Farms to continue handling leachate - Tiffin Advertiser Tribune

FOSTORIA - Council took a step in helping the environment by having a first reading on a resolution dealing with landfill leachate.

Council heard Sunny Farms landfill creates "leachate", a liquid which flows through or drains from a landfill, but needed a place to continue having it treated instead of releasing it to the environment.

It was noted the city has been able to accept the landfill leachate for treatment in return for having the landfill accept the city's treated sewage sludge.

The resolution is to authorize safety-service Director James Schreck to accomplish a formal agreement to continue with the treatment process.

Mayor John Davoli noted the importance of removing items which could hold water and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. He said the risk of having mosquitoes hatch in catch basins has been countered with a chemical that slowly releases to keep mosquito larvae from hatching. The city also is spraying for mosquitoes at night.

Police Chief John McGuire announced the receipt of a $3,900 grant from Ohio Department of Youth Services for holding youth offenders at the city jail. He said the youths must be monitored and kept away from adult prisoners.

In other news, council:

Approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to submit an application to Ohio Public Works Commission State Capital Improvement and Local Improvement Programs for funding to replace a water line on Spruce Street.

Approved an ordinance to supplement permanent appropriations to replace police equipment damaged due to sewer back up.

Heard a second reading on an ordinance amendment which is to deal with parking and storage of commercial residential refuse vehicles.

Heard a request for executive session to occur at the next council meeting for discussion of personnel.

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Ultrafiltration and Reverse Osmosis for Landfill Leachate Treatment - Environmental Expert

Lanchester Landfill serves Eastern Lancaster County and Western Chester County in PA for disposal of household and construction waste. The facility produces around 10,000 gals per day of  leachate.

The Problem

The facility ran a single basin sequential batch reactor (SBR) and a filter press to dewater the solids for many years, but found that they first, could not sustain a good biomass, and second, in winter could not nitrify the ammonia. The facility therefore could not reliably sustain the average monthly discharge requirements:

Evaluation

The purpose of the new system is was meet the discharge requirements consistently. Ultrafiltration and Reverse Osmosis technology was selected since this offers the best performance possible in the smallest footprint with a low capital cost.
The Solution

The existing SBR basin was converted to an equalization basin, and Dynatec provided and installed a prefilter to remove larger solids, an ultrafiltration system to remove fine colloidal solids and oils, a reverse osmosis system to remove TDS, and ammonia and the other dissolved components of concern.

Several tanks already in place were utilized as process and buffer tanks between the various treatment stages.

Final ph control and chlorination was also provided.

The Process

The leachate is equalized in an equalization basin. A filter removes large solids before it enters the UF process.The leachate is processed with ultrafiltration to remove particles and oils.The UF permeate is processed with Reverse Osmosis to remove dissolved materials.

Operation

The system has operated successfully for over five years, allowing the plant to meet its discharge permit on all parameters. The influent and effluent data are provided below.

Conclusion

Dynatec Systems has built on its water treatment experience that began in the 1970's using membranes with rugged industrial reliability to produce UF and RO systems wrapped in a compact package. This made Dynatec the right choice for this project. The successful implementation of this system allows this landfill to continue to discharge to the local POTW and for use for dust control on the facility’s roads.

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Bantar Gebang TPST Leachate Not The Cause Of Pollution - BeritaJakarta.com

BERITAJAKARTA.COM — 10/10/2011 8:37:31 PM Jakarta Provincial Government ensures waste water or  leachate which comes from Bantar Gebang Integrated Trash Management (TPST), Bekasi has passed management process so that waste water does not pollute the environment. Besides, leachate management process in Bantar Gebang TPST is equipped with four Water Waste Management Installation (IPAS) which has been built in the period of 1989 until 1999.
Eko Bharuna as Head of Jakarta Cleanliness Department stated that moreover, there is allegation if water pollutions is occurred in Jambe River, Bekasi which caused by leachate from Bantar Gebang TPST, and it is not true.
“All this time we continue to manage it through four IPASs so that producing good waste and not dangerous,” he expressed at Jakarta City Hall, Monday (10/10).
Therefore, his party guarantees if waste water management has been handled properly. The technology of waste water management in Bantar Gebang TPST is the best technology in Indonesia.
Leachate management in four IPASs has also met waste quality for industry activity in accordance with Environment Minister Decision No. Kep-51/MENLH/10/1995. It is used because there are no specific rules which set waste water quality in Indonesia.Besides that, Bantar Gebang has also managed waste methane gas into electricity and its management able to reduce greenhouse gas effect. Moreover, the process of sorting, composting, and recycling are also conducted in Bantar Gebang TPST.
Now, there are three hangars of compost management with 300 tons per day capacity.Douglas Manurung as Bantar Gebang TPST Managing Director stated that his party continuously conducts laboratory test towards waste water which produced by Bantar Gebang TPST routinely.
“Waste water is managed physically, chemically, and biologically. Thus it has neutral and not dangerous in environment,” he expressed. He explained that in Bantar Gebang TPST, there four IPASs which built in 1989 (IPAS I), 1996 (IPAS II and III), and 1998/1999 (IPAS IV).
Those four IPASs are be able to manage 7,115 cubic meters of waste water per day by producing maximum leachate during rainy season which is Rp 2,856 cubic meters.Besides, there are three disposal waste locations (TPA) around Bantar Gebang. They are Bantar Gebang TPST belongs to Jakarta Provincial Government, Sumur Batu TPA belongs to Bekasi Munacipilty and Burangke TPA belongs to Bekasi Regency.
It ensures only Bantar Gebang TPST has done waste water management properly. “If there found dozens of plastic laundry and small industries which have no waste water treatment, thus its waste water directly flowed to river around Bekasi. But the big question is when the river in Bekasi polluted, why only blaming to Jakarta?” he stated.
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Commissioners to consider leachate hauling deals - Williamsport Sun-Gazette

The Lycoming County commissioners Thursday will act on agreements with two companies that hauled leachate from the county landfill in Brady Township to wastewater treatment plants during the recent flooding.

On Tuesday during a commissioners work session, Dan Dorman, landfill support services manager, said more than 1.5 million gallons of leachate, which is contaminated liquid created by water moving through the landfill waste fields, was collected and removed from a lines retention pond over the last week.

The commissioners last week approved an emergency measure authorizing the removal.

The leachate produced usually is sent to the Borough of Montgomery's wastewater treatment plant, but that plant temporarily was out of commission during the recent rain and flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee. The rain also caused an excess amount of leachate to be generated at the landfill.

Leachate was trucked from the retention pond so it would not overflow.

The agreements are with Wolfe Liquid Hauling, of Lewisburg, and Folse Oil Field Services, of Williamsport.

In other business, the commissioners will act on receipt of a Homeless Assistance Program grant from the state Department of Public Welfare.

The $170,000 grant is about $20,000 less than the county received last year, according to Mya Toon, county grants administrator.

Toon said the funding is passed through to area human service agencies to help fund outreach to the homeless.

The decrease in funding could significantly impact local agencies, Toon said, adding that the county will prioritize which agency needs the available funding the most.

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Clean Harbors's; Lambton Facility Addresses Leachate Odour Issues

September 26, 2011 04:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time
CORUNNA, Ontario--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Clean Harbors Canada, Inc.’s Lambton facility experienced odour complaints from the nearby community and the Company has taken measures to reduce these odours in an effort to ensure that the problems are minimized in the future. Recent testing indicates that emissions from the site are within the Ministry of the Environment health standards.

“Excellent progress has been made over the past weeks with the addition of new chemical neutralizing agents to the leachate pond, and the new geotextile cover. These actions have had a positive impact in reducing odours.”

The source of the intermittent odour emanating from the facility is leachate that has pooled at the base of the active landfill excavation and is stored in leachate ponds. The facility is actively addressing this problem by applying additional odour reagents and neutralizers, covering the leachate pond, and conducting activities during favourable meteorological conditions.

The Company purchased a special surfactant/enzyme combination that emulsified the leachate to eliminate the odours coming from the leachate pond. In addition, a custom made tarp was installed over the pond to further encapsulate the odours.

“We are taking aggressive steps to significantly reduce odours coming from the leachate in the active landfill,” said Clean Harbors Lambton Facility General Manager Chris Small. “Excellent progress has been made over the past weeks with the addition of new chemical neutralizing agents to the leachate pond, and the new geotextile cover. These actions have had a positive impact in reducing odours.”
 

For weekly updates on the Lambton facilities’ odour and leachate reduction efforts, please visit www.cleanharbors.com/locations/lambton.

About Clean Harbors

Clean Harbors is the leading provider of environmental, energy and industrial services throughout North America. The Company serves more than 50,000 customers, including a majority of the Fortune 500 companies, thousands of smaller private entities and numerous federal, state, provincial and local governmental agencies. Headquartered in Norwell, Massachusetts, Clean Harbors has more than 175 locations, including over 50 waste management facilities, throughout North America in 37 U.S. states, seven Canadian provinces, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The Company also operates international locations in Bulgaria, China, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.cleanharbors.com.

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