Virginia landfill operators settle leachate and odor violations

Operators of the Atlantic Waste Disposal landfill near Waverly, Virginia, has sealed off areas of the site and will invest $90,000 in a local 4-H camp as part of a settlement regarding odor violations, a report by the Progress-Index says. The Prince George board of supervisors heard complaints from residents in March about the landfill’s odor.

The landfill’s parent company, Houston-based Waste Management (WM) said at the time of the complaints that they were working on resolving the odor issue and will have it done by the end of June. Recently, Jason Williams, WM senior environmental manager, came back to the board to announce the company has finished the work and decreased the odor.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently seeking public comment on a proposed consent order with the landfill to settle violations of state water quality regulations, the report says. The order says there have been repeated and prolonged periods of time where leachate ran off the landfill site and into neighboring water, Black Swamp and Pigeon Swamp.

The DEQ previously approved a corrective action plan by the operators of Atlantic Waste Disposal to stop the leachate leaking and the report says the landfill finished implementing the plan in May.

In the order, WM will set up stormwater monitoring systems for the next year and will submit a final report to the department summarizing the data and will discuss long-term impacts to the surrounding water and the impact of the plan.

WM will also pay a $120,000 civil charge to settle the water violations. Thirty thousand dollars will be paid in cash and the remaining $90,000 will be paid through a supplemental environmental project that will entail the restoration of an environmental education boardwalk dock/boat launch facility at the Airfield 4-H Conference Center in Wakefield. The total cost of the project is set to be $126,000 and is required to be completed by the end of the year.