Landfills

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.