Seymour Landfill Operator Applauded for Applying for Permission to Put Slopes on Plateau

The top of every landfill should be rounded, and certainly never a flat plateau, and if your landfill has a flat plateau you should go right now to the regulators and the planners and ask for more capacity to be allowed to ask for a rounded contour with surface slopes initially at no shallower than 1 in 20, whcih after settlement will end up probably at only 1 in 20 which is only just enough to stop sighnificant ponding. In essence you need the surface water from a landfill cap to flo off it quickly. UK research in the 1990s showed this need for a good shedding slope to the top of a landfill to reduce leachate production, to be a big factor in all cases studied.




Here is an extract from the original article:

TRENT HILLS -- The key to a landfill achieving its full potential is that it be well-rounded. Northumberland County will be making that argument when it applies to the Ministry of the Environment to increase the capacity of the Seymour landfill by 39,000 cubic metres so the mound atop the waste disposal site will be rounded.

The landfill's approved final contours is for a plateau on top which will lead to increased infiltration of precipitation into the landfill and cause "higher than necessary leachate generation rates," manager of planning and technical support Adam McCue said in a report to County council April 18.

If the ministry agrees to the request for additional waste material and cover soil, Seymour Landfill's operating life would be extended by up to two years, he said.

With its capacity currently valued at $95 per tonne, the landfill would produce an additional $1.85 million in revenue during that time, he added.

Mo Pannu, director of transportation and waste management, said the site's capacity is expected to run out by the end of this year or early in 2013.

He said it will take four to five months for the application to be processed.

The application to the ministry will cost $22,700. The County also approved an expenditure of $42,500 to develop detailed design, operations and closure plan in support of the request. Both expenses will be funded from savings in this year's transportation and waste management department budgets.

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Perry County landfill gets permit to expand - The Buckeye Lake Beacon

COLUMBUS – Ohio EPA has issued Tunnel Hill Partners LP a final solid waste permit and modification to its wastewater discharge permit. The final air permit was issued earlier this summer. The company requested the permits to expand the landfill at 2500 Township Road 205, Route 2 in New Lexington. The landfill spans Pike, Harrison and Clayton townships in Perry County.

Ohio EPA held a public hearing on May 11, 2011, and an information session on June 3, 2010, to explain the proposed expansion, answer questions and receive public comments. Before issuing the permits, Ohio EPA reviewed the technical aspects of the applications and determined that they met the requirements of state and federal clean air and water quality standards and solid waste rules.

The solid waste permit will allow a lateral and vertical expansion at the 544-acre facility. The lateral expansion will increase the approved disposal area by 69 acres. The vertical expansion authorizes new disposal capacity above the previously authorized 49-acre disposal area. This will bring the landfill’s footprint to 118 acres. ( Currently, the landfill’s developed footprint is 11.7 acres, though it has been previously approved to occupy 49 acres.)

Additionally, the permit increases the authorized maximum daily waste receipt from 5,000 tons to 8,000 tons. If the landfill took in 8,000 tons of waste per day, it would take 11.5 years to fill. The landfill design includes a composite liner; leachate collection (the water that has come in contact with buried landfill wastes); surface water management; ground water monitoring; and final closure cap. The permit also requires 30 years of post-closure care and financial assurance for closure and post-closure care.

A draft modification to the landfill’s wastewater discharge permit took effect on September 1, 2011. The modification was required since the surface area contributing storm water runoff to the sedimentation pond will change. Landfill leachate is not permitted to go to the sediment pond. The permit limits discharges of pollutants into Rush Creek.

In June, Ohio EPA issued the company a final air permit that establishes allowable emissions from unpaved roadways and parking areas, the municipal solid waste landfill and rail unloading areas based on an anticipated increase in the waste acceptance rate. The air permit also establishes requirements for landfill gas collection and control.

The permits and related materials are available for review at Ohio EPA’s Southeast District Office (2195 Front Street, Logan, Ohio 43138) by first calling (740) 385-8501 or (800) 686-7330.

Issuance of the final solid waste permit and wastewater permit modification can be appealed to the Ohio Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC). Appeals generally must be filed within 30 days of issuing the final action; therefore, Ohio EPA recommends that anyone wishing to file an appeal contact ERAC online or at (614) 466-8950 for more information.

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EU Citizens Never Have to Worry About Chemicals which US Landfill Operator Cleaning Up from Leachate

As an EU citizen it is easy to feel very smug. Once upon a time the US was regarded as an advanced nation, but in this article we are told about groundwater contamination from a chamical which is a liquid disposed to tis US landfill which has long been banned throughout all EU states. No EU landowner need fear that tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene will appear in their groundwater since the dispoal of hazardous chemicals like this, and indeed all liquids to landfill was banned more than 10 years ago. The US are crazy to still allow such practices. Read more and find out what this is all about:

One week after the Virginia Supreme Court overturned a $9 million judgment against Campbell County in a contamination lawsuit, officials said they remain committed to removing the leachate that got into the groundwater on Claude and Virginia Royals’ Rustburg property.

“We said from the beginning there was no question that the leachate was from the landfill,” said Campbell County Administrator David Laurrell. “We’ll continue to move forward until we completely take care of it.”

In 2002, the Royals discovered their well water had been contaminated by the neighboring landfill and for the last 10 years the county has been working to remove the chemicals.

Recent water samples show remediation is working, Laurrell said.

The Royals continue to use the well water on their property, avoiding the contaminated wells. They also have access to county water if they wish to connect to it.

Several times each year, Campbell County tests water from 51 sites on the landfill and the Royals’ property. The tests look for more than 200 different chemicals. Of the 3,800 recent test results, only 23 showed elements in the water at levels higher than allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency’s groundwater protection standards, said Clif Tweedy, deputy county administrator.

Tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene are two of the chemicals that continue to exist in the groundwater at amounts exceeding EPA standards. Tetrachloroethene, or PCE, is a synthetic liquid commonly used in the textile industry and in dry cleaning as a metal degreaser. It is considered a potential human carcinogen and consuming water with elevated levels over the course of a lifetime may increase cancer risk.

Under certain conditions, PCE in groundwater can degrade into trichloroethene, or TCE, and vinylchloride, which are more toxic.

Two of the 51 water sites tested have elevated TCE levels of 7 parts per billion. The maximum allowable by the government is 5 ppb.

When water treatment began in 2002, TCE was 136 parts per billion.

One site tested had an elevated PCE level of 8.3 parts per billion. As with TCE, the maximum allowable level is 5 ppb.

In 2001, TCE levels were as high as 29.8 on the site.

PCE and TCE — and benzene, vinylchloride and methylenechloride — are chemicals commonly found in landfills or in nearby leaks, said Tweedy.

At the Rustburg landfill, water testing shows the levels of benzene, vinylchloride and methylenechloride are so low they cannot be detected at most sites and where it does exist, it is well below the government requirements.

“I think the remediation is going much quicker than we originally thought,” said Laurrell, adding some of the Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, have dropped by 95 percent.

“That’s just a remarkable improvement in a short amount of time,” he said.

In 2003, 95 percent of the wells tested showed contamination above allowable levels. Today, eight years later with an even greater number of wells in place, just .5 percent are above the standard.

The entire remediation system has been fully operational for two years.

The landfill received gas vents in 2002, a gas extraction system in 2003 and the first of several series of groundwater remediation wells in 2005.

Although the Supreme Court decision on Jan. 13 closed the case for the county, the Royals have until Jan. 23 to request a rehearing with the Supreme Court.

The Royals’ attorney has not revealed if the couple will pursue one.

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Ground-water hydrology and the effects of vertical leakage and leachate migration on ground-water quality near the Shelby County landfill, Memphis, Tennessee (Water-resources investigations report)

Disposing of solids waste to landfill is regarded as one of the most economical means of handling waste though landfills pose pollution threat to both ground and surface water resources. However, landfill liners and good landfill management practices may reduce the impact of water contamination by landfills.

The above video is not associated with the article text. However, we thought our readers might also be interested in this video.

Chemical analysis of groundwater beneath and near two landfills from New Zealand and Lesotho (in Southern Africa) showed that there are higher concentrations of chemicals such as Chlorides, TDS and COD than average. The water was also found to contain higher amounts of heavy metals.

High concentrations of chemical constituents, such as those found in leachate contaminated water may cause various health complications in humans if consumed.

To minimize possible hazards due to landfill leachate, future landfills must be lined at the base and sides by a combination of clay, geosynthetic clay and high-density polyethylene liners.

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