Late yesterday, the Ohio EPA issued their final orders to Stony Hollow Landfill. All of us on the Waste Management team agree with these orders and will continue to work closely with the Ohio EPA and other regulators to make sure Stony Hollow Landfill completes all action items on schedule and adheres to the standards outlined in the plan. We will also keep you all informed as we work through the upcoming activities.
The final findings and orders lay out the appropriate next steps to build on the significant progress we’ve made containing and controlling odors, including:
- Continuing necessary additions and updates to the gas well collection network, which will build on the work done last year and enhance the efficiency of our system. More gas wells mean more control over landfill gases, which can cause odors if not contained in wells or under the vacuum. This work will begin in May and will be completed by early July.
- Extending the synthetic cap, which has worked well in helping us contain and control any odors not captured by the well system. This work will begin in July and conclude by the end of August. The cap will remain in place until the Ohio EPA determines with the appropriate data and testing that the area has stabilized.
- Ambient Air Monitoring: During gas well drilling in the area we will be increasing the frequency of sampling of our ambient air monitoring, adding more monitors and conducting more laboratory testing to ensure the air in and around the landfill is safe for our employees and our neighbors. RAPCA will be conducting periodic monitoring in the community during these activities.
- Odor Surveillance: We will continue to conduct odor surveillance three times a day, seven days a week.
- Public Information Meeting: We will host an information session in early June 2017, where community members can learn more about what’s been done at Stony Hollow to address odors and upcoming projects for summer 2017. We will continue to offer more opportunities for sharing information going forward.
- Odor Management Plan: The order sets clear guidelines and measurement criteria that must be met before the Ohio EPA will give approval for any changes.
The final orders and findings are available on the Ohio EPA public document website: http://edocpub.epa.ohio.gov/publicportal/ViewDocument.aspx?docid=616708