Landfill cracks worry agency

By Bob Downing
The Akron Beacon Journal

PIKE TWP - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is concerned about the stability of a troubled landfill in southern Stark County and its effect on Interstate 77.

Tension cracks along the landfill's western slope next to I-77 could indicate slippage problems, the agency warned Republic Waste Services of Ohio in an Aug. 22 letter about its Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in Pike Township.

The EPA wants the company to investigate adding engineering supports.

The Ohio EPA and the company have been exchanging landfill information. There was some settling and slippage on the southern slope of the 88-acre original landfill when the problems came to light.

Ed Gortner, an EPA enforcement coordinator in the Division of Solid and Infectious Waste Management, said: ''Based upon review of data, field observations and the lack of a clear understanding of the total magnitude and mechanism of the south slope movement, Ohio EPA is concerned that any slope movement in the west area of the landfill could pose a potential risk to the public and nearby infrastructure, which includes heavily traveled Interstate Highway 77.''

The company should be prepared ''to redress these conditions in the event the inclinometer data demonstrates slope failure is imminent or other factors indicate that prompt action is appropriate,'' the agency said.

The EPA wants the company to install additional inclinometers, which measure soil movement in landfill slopes.

Republic Waste Services should forgo installing the devices in another area and instead install two lines of inclinometers on the landfill's west side, where there have been underground fires and odor problems, Gortner said.

The devices to be installed in areas of the landfill with fires may need to be specially constructed to withstand the heat, pressures and other conditions inside the landfill. The company must submit a revised work plan to the Ohio EPA, he said.

The EPA said tension cracks along the crest of the south slope should not be taken lightly and need to be evaluated in connection with higher temperatures and elevated gas levels in that area.

The company has been closely monitoring cracks in the landfill, the EPA said. The company has installed 66 pins on the western slope that are measured by global positioning system equipment.

The company is under EPA orders to extinguish the fires in the 258-acre landfill and to terminate the odors that have plagued residents of southern Stark and northern Tuscarawas counties.

The company paid a $1 million fine to the EPA. Its plan to extinguish the fires caused by landfill liquids coming into contact with buried aluminum wastes is under review by the agency.

Efforts Tuesday to reach the EPA or the company about Gortner's letter were unsuccessful.

Read original article.

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Additional Inclinometer Installation and
Surface Monitoring on the West Slope