Kentucky landfill signs agreed order for unpermitted radioactive material

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) in Frankfort, Kentucky, announced that it has signed an agreed order with Blue Ridge Landfill Inc. in Irvine, Kentucky, run by Ponte Vedra, Florida-based Advanced Disposal Services. The order includes remedial and penalty provisions regarding technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) that was illegally brought there in 2015.

The agreed order requires Blue Ridge to develop a corrective action plan (CAP) that must address the disposal of TENORM brought to the facility and contain a timeline for the completion of specific corrective actions and an estimated date for final compliance. It also must have a plan, to be incorporated into Blue Ridge’s landfill permit, for detecting and preventing future disposal of unpermitted TENORM waste.

Blue Ridge also agreed to a $95,000 civil penalty that the cabinet has agreed to offset by allowing the company to perform supplemental environmental projects. Specifically, Blue Ridge has agreed to deposit $60,000 into an escrow account for the Estill County (Kentucky) School District to pay toward the detection and mitigation of naturally occurring radon and establishing educational programs related to environmental sciences.

As part of the agreed order, the landfill company also will install radiation monitors at the Irvine facility and at its Morehead landfill. Radiation monitoring at the Irvine facility will be part of a plan to prevent future disposal of TENORM waste.

Texas landfill pursues 100-year expansion plan

Phoenix-based Republic Services has broached the idea of an expansion at a landfill near Amarillo, Texas, that would provide the landfill with up to 100 years of life. Expansion of the landfill appears to have political support.

Republic and the city manager of Canyon, Texas, have been discussing an expansion plan for the Southwest Landfill near Canyon.

The city does not expect an increase in garbage collection fees or changes in how the Southwest Landfill operates if the expansion takes place.

As currently configured, Southwest Landfill may only have capacity to operate for another 10 years. According to Canyon City Manager Randy Criswell, the proposed expansion basically will triple the size of the landfill and will enable it to take waste for up to 100 years.

Although the landfill is described as being just “a couple miles north of downtown Canyon,” Criswell considers that a positive, saying it “allows us to keep our solid waste collection and disposal costs cheaper than they would be if we had to operate our own landfill.”

Housing subdivisions are being built near the landfill, and, according to Criswell, the expansion plans have not hampered their development.

MassDEP report shows economic boon in food waste ban

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has issued a report that claims the Massachusetts Commercial Food Waste Ban, implemented in 2014, has created more than 900 jobs and stimulated $175 million in economic activity during the first two years of the ban.

The ban requires any commercial organization that disposes of one ton or more a week of food waste to pull it out of the waste stream and reuse it, send it for composting or animal feed operations or use it in an anaerobic digestion facility.

The report, conducted by ICF International Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, assessed the economic development benefits of food waste reduction initiatives. The study compared jobs and economic activity among food waste haulers; composting, anaerobic digestion and animal feed operations; and food rescue organizations before and after the Oct. 1, 2014, implementation of MassDEP’s commercial organics waste ban. ICF found that the ban creates jobs by driving a market for alternatives to disposing of food waste in the garbage.

The study, commissioned by the Baker-Polito Administration, shows that food waste haulers and processors, as well as food rescue organizations, employ 500 people directly while supporting more than 900 jobs when accounting for indirect and induced effects.

These sectors generate more than $46 million of labor income and $175 million in economic activity.

Based on the survey results, Massachusetts haulers are collecting an estimated 270,000 tons of food materials annually. Jobs in the sector grew by 150 percent between 2010 and 2015, with a projected additional 50 percent job growth from 2016 to 2017. Approximately 1,700 facilities were covered under the ban.

Not backing down on backing

During the week of Jan. 23-27, the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA), Washington, hosted a training and awareness effort focused around reducing accidents, fatalities and injuries related to truck backing incidents, which represent common challenges for the industry.

The NWRA says fatalities caused by backing vehicles continue to be a leading cause of preventable deaths for waste and recycling workers, accounting for nearly 30 percent of industry worker fatalities in 2015.

The association asked members of the waste and recycling industry to join in NWRA’s commitment toward significantly improving safety for the waste and recycling industry by taking part in this effort.

Talking about statistics

Bret Biggers, director of statistics and standards for the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Washington, comments on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 2015 workplace injury and illness data and how they relate to the efforts made to improve safety in the waste and remediation industry in a podcast interview with Waste Today Editor Kristin Smith, available at www.WasteTodayMagazine.com/video/podcast-interview-bret-biggers-nwra-bls-safety.

Committed to providing resources

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, says it continues its efforts to educate and advance awareness for better industry safety practices through its integrated Safety Matters program and access to free safety-focused resources online and in person.

The Safety Matters webpage, available at https://swana.org/ safety.aspx, is a resource portal that serves as a central place for SWANA members and other industry professionals to access the latest in safety news, materials and upcoming events.

Included on the webpage is information about each of SWANA’s safety initiatives, including the Safety Ambassador program, Slow Down to Get Around decal distribution, safety awards and direct links to outside resources, such as the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).

In the typical transfer station or material recovery facility (MRF), pieces of equipment like skid steers and loaders are used to rummage through waste to retrieve recyclables or bigger items that may cause problems for a processing system. They can also be used to load waste onto trucks, hoppers or bins.

Recently, some transfer stations and MRFs are taking a different approach to loading applications by using material handlers. It is a decision that appears to be paying off.

“Loading the system with a material handler was one of the best things we ever did,” Riel Johnson, general manager of Athens Services’ Sun Valley MRF in Sun Valley, California, says. “The material handler sips fuel, doesn’t wear out the tires and does a phenomenal job preprocessing the waste for the system’s infeeds.”

NECESSARY EXPERIENCE

Athens Services uses material handlers at two of its MRFs—located in City of Industry, California, and Sun Valley. At the City of Industry MRF, two Builtrite 2100 electric material handlers sort through waste, while one Caterpillar diesel-powered M322D does the job in Sun Valley.

The Sun Valley MRF separates 1,500 tons per day of municipal solid waste (MSW), including single family, multifamily and commercial waste streams in Southern California. Its custom system from Bulk Handling Systems (BHS), Eugene, Oregon, is housed in a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified facility with a solar-powered collection system.

The City of Industry MRF can process up to 5,000 tons of mixed materials per day and houses a dedicated food waste line to process and remove contaminants from organics before being delivered to the company’s composting facility, American Organics in Victorville, California.

The Builtrites at the City of Industry facility were installed when the facility first opened 20 years ago. That is because the tunnel is too deep for the loaders to distribute waste evenly within transfer trucks, says Johnson. Ten years ago, Athens Services rebuilt and replaced them and is currently assessing whether the units need to be replaced or rebuilt again.

At the City of Industry MRF, handlers are used to level out loads of material as the transfer trucks are top loaded in the tunnel, Johnson says. A loader pushes the material into the top of the trailer until the load reaches the desired weight as shown by digital axle scale readouts.

An operator then remotely runs the grizzly to get the maximum amount of allowable waste into each load while ensuring the axle weights meet California Department of Transportation specifications.

At the Sun Valley MRF, the Cat material handler is used to tamp and adjust the weights of the loads in the tunnel, as well as to feed waste into the mixed waste processing system at “a very even pace,” according to Johnson. “This makes for a smooth and level burden on the sorting conveyors, maximizing our potential recovery from the waste.”

Johnson recalls an incident when a concrete headstone that weighed hundreds of pounds accidentally made its way onto the conveyor. Employees had to use sledgehammers to break it down for processing.

“With the material handler, the operator will see that and pull it out,” Johnson says. “It also pulls out long, stringy items [that would increase downtime if processed], while the elevated cab allows operators to fluff and massage the material for a steady flow.”

At Athens Services, operators with more experience tend to fare better with using material handlers in this application than those who may be newer, according to Johnson.

“It takes a special operator to work these machines in tight spots and keep up with production,” he says. “The key is to get experienced hands to run these.”

It could take years for a less experienced operator to learn how to properly use a material handler in a MRF, but some of them are more adept than others and are able to change their habits with the changing technology, according to Johnson.

“Sometimes it’s easier to start at ground zero with a guy you can teach,” Johnson notes.

KEEPING DESIGN IN MIND

Ken Stewart, operations manager at Recology SF in San Francisco also uses Builtrites. Recology has three operating companies—two residential and commercial collection facilities and a transfer station.

The company also offers drop-off services for items that can’t be picked up at the curb, such as household hazardous waste, electronics, expired medications, cooking oil, paint and batteries.

At the transfer station, two Builtrite 3300s run 20 hours per day adjusting weight and loads on outbound materials to meet state specifications. The company uses a Cat D8 to topload trailers.

“It takes a special operator to work these machines in tight spots and keep up with production. The key is to get experienced hands to run these. Sometimes it’s easier to start at ground zero with a guy you can teach.” – Riel Johnson, Athens Services

According to Stewart, the material handlers help Recology maximize its weight per unit on everything that it trucks out.

Recology has used material handlers at its facility for more than 25 years. The company used a different handler in 1970, but with changing technology, went with Builtrite in 1984.

“We designed these handlers for our specific application,” Stewart says. “We took the time to look at specific pieces of equipment and technology.”

With swivel and torrent-mount designs and an elevated cab, the Builtrites provide extra visibility and flexibility, helping to decrease downtime.

“I didn’t just take any piece of equipment and stick it in there,” Stewart explains. “Someone may try to use a unit in two different applications and it may work better in one application than the other. These were specifically designed for us.”

Stewart brought in experienced operators to lend a hand with those who aren’t as experienced using a material handler in this applications, but much like Johnson’s case, ease of training an operator depends on the individual being trained.

“Some get it, some don’t,” Stewart says. “I’m not going to force someone to sit in that seat if they don’t want to.”

At Recology, training can last two to three weeks, or even a month, depending on how quickly an operator can get comfortable using the equipment.

Stewart says he is currently speaking with Builtrite to purchase more material handlers for more projects. He notes other than a broken hose from time to time, the handlers wear well in Recology’s transfer station.

“Builtrite makes a variety of different sizes that you can order specifically for your operation,” he says. “I’m happy with my applications.”

DOUBLE DUTY

Ukian, California-based C&S Waste Solutions’ Lake County transfer station and its nearby scrap yard both use material handlers.

The transfer station accepts an assortment of materials, including MSW; wood and green waste; construction and demolition debris; appliances; tires; furniture; scrap metals; and standard recyclables such as cardboard; paper; glass; metal and plastic containers; motor oil and filters; batteries and electronics. The materials delivered to the tipping floor are sorted, and recyclables are extracted.

Bruce McCracken, partner at C&S Waste Solutions, uses two material handlers by Fuchs, Southaven, Mississippi. A 320D is used at the transfer station in Lake County, while a 350D is employed at the scrap yard.

“At the transfer station, we use the handlers to load garbage and recycling into the trucks,” McCracken says. “When not loading, operators are using the handlers to move the material into separate piles.”

A similar operation occurs at the scrap yard, according to McCracken. A truck comes in and dumps the material out. The operator sorts through the material, organizing it by type, such as copper or stainless, rather than grade.

Material handlers work the best for transfer stations on the West Coast because the transfer stations are either lifted through tunnels or built on top of tunnels, McCracken says.

For C&S Waste Solutions, digging down to the tunnels or filling the tunnels was too costly, so the company had to look for an alternative. “It saved us a lot of money,” McCracken says.

Operators can see more of the area with an elevated cab, a positive for both efficient sorting and safety. “If someone is walking by them or if there’s a vehicle, they can see it,” he says.

For operators to “do it right and correctly,” according to McCracken, training takes about two weeks.

“The operators came in from using wheel loaders and perhaps they were a little apprehensive at first, but they really grew to like them,” he says. “Material handlers are a versatile machine. You can use them in different applications, and the operators really like them. That’s important to us.”

The author is assistant editor of Waste Today and can be reached at hcrisan@gie.net.