INC NEWS - yard waste site

[RW Pickle]

I have learned, that at the same time we were having issues with the
quality of run-off of water at our once successful composting/grinding
site on the back side of the landfill, another organics facility in Durham
was also tested for water run-off quality. The State figured both
facilities would have similar readings, but they did not.

The two different site tests would lead one to believe that the problem
with water run-off (that now has the composting/grinding site shut down,
cleaned up, and us sending our yard waste to Virginia) that has caused our
facility to close in the first place had nothing to do with what was going
on at the site (or was relative to the $380,000+ fire). I believe it has
everything to do with the leaching off of liquids from the landfill.

I say this because the other organics facility, when their water run-off
testing was done, had no problems. It, however, is not located adjacent to
a landfill. Hence, I can only surmise that it is the landfill causing the
problem and not the organics that were on the site that is now closed. If
that is the case, a leaching landfill could be an even larger problem as
time goes on. And any further activity around the closed landfill, without
taking the State mandated precautions of pumping water run-off to be
treated (which is just next door thankfully), would be a waste of good
money. We may even have to do that if we never utilize the land around the
landfill again. Whatever we do there is going to continue to have this
problem because it comes from the closed landfill. At least that is all I
can see that would cause the different water quality issues between two
similar facilities in the same general area (Durham).

Our closed landfill was not a Title D landfill. This refers to it being a
lined landfill that over time, would allow any precipitation that
penetrated it, to be trapped in a liner. No one guarantees their liners
forever, so sooner or later they are expected to leak as well. It's been
around 20 years since Title D was implemented, so the history of how good
liners perform (or don't) is still debated. But they are better, at least
as a protective thought process, than an unlined landfill.

Perhaps if we relocated our composting/grinding facility to a site further
away from the closed landfill, all of the issues we have relative to poor
water quality run-off will disappear. It works for another organics
facility in Durham so it should work for the City as well. I now believe
it is the landfill leachate that created this problem and the closing of
the yard waste facility had nothing to do with the yard waste being housed
there. If that is the case, then we have the same issues of capturing
run-off water from the closed landfill regardless of what we do on the
surrounding property. And it's my guess that there will be no end to poor
quality of run-off water since the landfill is not going anywhere.

But none of this is relative to wasting a second fleet of trucks and a
second tier of manpower to pick up yard waste separately. Since it's all
being mixed at the transfer station and transported to Virginia, Saving
anything at this point will be a blessing. We must be nearing the quarter
of a million dollar ($250,000) mark as to what this thought process has
cost us so far (it's been what we've done for 2 months now). That's real
money. When are we to see the bleeding end...

RWP
27 Beverly