Wastewater Pool Nets Landfill $50K Fine

FIRST ON POTOMACLOCAL.COM

DUMFRIES, Va. — A landfill that wants to expand upward is now forced to pay up.

The Potomac Landfill in Dumfries has been ordered to pay a $50,000 fine after pool of leachate formed in an unlined pond at the debris collection landfill site last year, according to a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality report.

After the contaminated water gathered the pool officials at the landfill then pumped the contaminated water back to the top of the landfill and then re-circulated it back through the landfill’s leachate collection system, a violation of Virginia law the report states.

Rotten eggs

Early last fall, Dumfries residents complained of falling ill after a strong odor permuted the streets of the town. Passersby noticed a strong smell of rotten eggs, especially after rainstorms passed through the area.

This latest DEQ report states high levels of hydrogen sulfide were found at the landfill, and that landfill staff was pumping the leachate into the sanitary sewer system after a system designed to treat leachate was overwhelmed. The Prince William County Service Authority later suspended sewer services to Potomac Landfill, according to the report.

A landfill spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Growing upward

The fine must be paid by Oct. 1, 2013, according to official documents, and comes after landfill officials proposed to the Dumfries Town Council a plan to close the landfill earlier than expected. If the Town is agreeable to amend a court order that allows the landfill to pile debris on 58 acres of land, to up 195 feet above sea level, and now allow piles of 310 feet on 38 acres, the landfill could close within 15 years — sooner than the projected 25 to 30 years at current fill rates.

But DEQ’s inspection report states debris is already piled above 195 feet in some places. The agency has ordered the landfill to remove 26,000 cubic yards of debris that now sits above 195 feet within 12 months, 130,000 cubic yards within 36 months, and after 60 months have a plan in place to manage the materials nearly topping the 195 feet mark.

If the Town Council votes to allow the landfill to pile debris to 310 feet the landfill will not be forced to remove debris currently above 195 feet.

The Dumfries Town Council is expected to hold a public hearing on the landfill’s proposal at Town Hall at 6 p.m. Monday.