By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
During the meeting of the Tucker County Solid Waste Authority, Presiding Chair Mark Holstine updated the board on the results of an inspection the facility had from the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection).
The next meeting of the Tucker County Solid Waste Authority will be held September 18th at 3 p.m. at the Tucker County Solid Waste Authority Office located at 284 Landfill Road in Davis. Meetings on October 30th at 3 p.m. and December 11th at 3 p.m. are slated to follow. There will be not be a meeting held in November. “So, we finally received a DEP Inspection in some time,” Holstine said.
According to Holstine, the DEP brought several officials with them to the Landfill to complete the Inspection and assessment of the site. “They brought out the whole team when they came,” Holstine said. “Inspector, Supervisor Inspector, Assistant Director of Enforcement and our Permit Manager.”
Holstine said the Landfill was ordered to shut down one of the Eco Misters by the DEP. “We were ordered to shut down Eco Mister in Pond Number Two,” Holstine said. “They were unhappy with some overspray that we knew we probably needed to do something with.”
The Landfill is expecting to receive a Notice of Violation according to Holstine. “I’m not going to make much more comment about it until we get the written N.O.V. (Notice of Violation),” Holstine said. “I’m assuming we are going to get a N.O.V. because they told us to shut it down. It normally means you’re going to get (a N.O.V.)”
According to Holstine, the DEP made comments about some windblown debris at the site that were caught in the facility’s wind pits. “So there were a lot of other comments made,” Holstine said. “Nothing that we aren’t used to, or whatever, about windblown and things like that. Now I will clarify,” Holstine said, “that the windblown that they made comments about is caught in our wind pits.”
“That’s why it’s there,” Vice Chair Dennis Filler said.
Holstine said he is waiting to final determination and official notice from the DEP. “So, we will wait on the N.O.V. We will present it to you all so that we aren’t going to be doing anything or they aren’t going to be saying anything that you all aren’t going to see. We will read it and make a decision on whether or not to protest or not.”
According to Holstine most of the issues raised by the DEP have been already addressed by the Landfill. “Most of the comments made during the inspection, I believe have already been fixed, except for the windblown comment and we did shut down the eco mister in the pond until we could determine,” Holstine said.
There is no cheap fix to the overspray issue, according to Holstine. “We are looking at ways to maybe prevent it leaving the extent of the pond, but if its not economically feasible that’s a no-go. We are not going to bankrupt ourselves trying to put a fence up.” Holstine said. “Jody said that there is a fence that you could put around the pond that will catch the overspray. That way it is not leaving the confines of the pond. But it is going to be very expensive. I can tell you that. So, we have to weigh the benefits.”
Filler asked for clarification on the Eco Mister issue at the meeting. “The problem with the Eco Mister is we draw an N.O.V. because the overspray, it doesn’t evaporate and its condensing on the ground?” Filler said.
Landfill Supervisor Jody Alderman clarified the issue. “It really evaporates,” Alderman said. “But it leaves a residue. They don’t like the residue.”
“The way the Eco Mister works is, it pulls the Leachate in,” Holstine said. “It blows it out in a mist. Most of the heavy contaminates fall out immediately into the pond and then the liquid is up in the air in the form of a mist and it evaporates as it travels. Well, the travel is going outside the sides of the pond and so you are getting residue on the outside of the fence. They don’t like it. They shut it down.”
According to Holstine the overspray did not cause any contamination at the site. “Now that doesn’t mean anything is contaminated,” Holstine said. “They just didn’t like it and told us to shut it down. So, until we get it in writing, I don’t know how to respond. Let’s see what they say.”
According to Holstine and Alderman, no other facility in the State of West Virginia operates Eco Mister technology. “There is a big landfill not too far away in Virginia that’s running seven of them,” Alderman said.
Filler said he thought there may be a lack of understanding of the technology at the state level. “So the state is the problem,” Filler said. “There may be a lack of understanding on their part. I’m just trying to understand.”
Holstine said he takes a novel approach to landfill management and implements technology before many others. “I’m novel,” Holstine said. “It’s not always appreciated. We’re doing several things here that have never been done and that makes people nervous in the regulatory community. I get it.”
The next meeting of the Tucker County Solid Waste Authority will be held September 18th at 3 p.m. at the Tucker County Solid Waste Authority Office located at 284 Landfill Road in Davis. Meetings on October 30th at 3 p.m. and December 11th at 3 p.m. are slated to follow. There will be not be a meeting held in November.
