Complaint ID 23596 — Public Copy

Met With Landfill Manager, Maurice Purvis. They Have Just Opened Up A New Phase, And He Guessed Right Away Where The Complaint Originated. They Are Applying The First Layer Of Waste On Top Of The Liner, And As They Are Filling The Cell A Lot Of The Liner Is Left Exposed To Stormwater Runoff. The Immediate Area Has Experienced Over 50 Inches Of Rain So Far This Year, And The New Cell Has Been Filling Up With This Excess Rainfall. So Mr. Purvis Has Separated The Working Area Of The Cell From The Non-Working Area With A Rain Flap. The Run-Off From The Active Area Is Pumped To Tanker Trucks And Transported To The Waycross Wpcp. Run-Off In The Non-Working Area Is Pumped Into A Drainage Ditch That Goes Around The Landfill And Leads To The Sediment Pond. The Outfall From The Sediment Pond Leads To Another Drainage Ditch Which Probably Ends Up In Cornhouse Creek, Which Is Over A Mile Away. However, The Pond Is Extremely Large, And Is Not Even Close To Reaching The Overflow Level. The New Phase Has A Large Leachate Tank, But Mr. Purvis Is Not Using It For Leachate Storage At This Time. He Has Filled It With Stormwater And Is Letting It Sit For A Few Weeks To Check The Integrity Of The System. He Has Found A Few Minor Leaks From Defective Gaskets, And Will Be Replacing Them. Apparently, Somebody Bringing In Waste To The New Phase Saw The Stormwater In The New Cell Being Pumped To The Ditch And Assumed That It Was Leachate. While I Was At The Site I Performed An Inspection And Everything Looked Good. The Waste Was Being Covered Daily And There Was No Detectable Odor. I Also Visited Cornhouse Creek Where It Crosses Under Hwy 121 About A Mile From The Landfill And Could Not Detect Any Environmental Damage From Leachate.

Called The Landfill. Discussed The Situation With The Scale Operator. She Said That The Landfill Manager Is Out Of Town This Week. She Said That They Have Not Been Experiencing Any Problems With Leachate Break-Out. All Of Their Leachate Is Piped To A Storage Tank And Then Transported To A Wastewater Treatment Plant. She Also Said That She Was Not Aware Of Any Odor Problem At The Facility. I Will Call The Landfill Manager When He Returns Next Week To Schedule A Meeting To Discuss The Complaint.