Environmentalists welcome new rules for construction landfills
Ohio reins in specialty dumps
New rules increase ground-water monitoring, runoff tests, ban pulverized waste at construction, demolition landfills
By Bob Downing
Akron Beacon-Journal
AKRON - A smouldering underground fire. Liquid waste dumped in a stream. A sickening rotten-egg odor.
Problems like these have plagued Ohio's construction and demolition landfills.
Now, new rules are about to go into effect that would tighten the state's control over these specialty dumps that take in such debris as concrete, bricks, lumber, plaster board, stone, glass, roofing materials, wiring, plumbing fixtures and insulation.
House Bill 397, which was approved by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bob Taft late last year, bans pulverized waste; expands ground-water monitoring and runoff testing; requires background checks and environmental-compliance checks on new operators; establishes contingency plans for fires, explosions and noxious gases and requires financial assurances to ensure post-closure landfill care.
The new rules give the EPA more authority over the location and building of construction and demolition (C&D) dumps. Such landfills must be at least 100 feet from streams and 500 feet from houses, drinking-water wells, parks, state forests, lakes, natural areas and historic landmarks.
Local health departments will continue to be in charge of inspecting facilities.
``This long overdue legislation is strong and comprehensive,'' said Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council, a statewide eco-group.
``C&D landfills are dangerous and can pose a risk to ground water and the environment. They have been the low-rent, high-risk landfills of Ohio.''
Unlike solid-waste landfills, C&D dumps are not required to have plastic liners. C&D operations are banned from accepting household garbage and hazardous waste.
In 2005, tests by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency showed that C&D dumps were leaking such toxic chemicals as arsenic, lead, cyanide and cadmium and posing a significant threat to neighbors and ground water. That led to legislation tightening the C&D rules.
EPA spokesman Scott Heidenreich said the rules should be in place by mid-June.
Ohio's 69 C&D landfills accept about 7 million tons of debris each year. That's enough material to fill Akron's Rubber Bowl more than 70 times.
Forty percent of that debris is shipped into Ohio by truck and rail, primarily from Ontario and East Coast states that do not have C&D landfills. Much of the debris was pulverized and unrecognizable.
There are three C&D sites in Summit County, two in Stark, three in Wayne; six in Cuyahoga, two in Lorain, two in Trumbull and four in Columbiana.
John Eslich, who owns and operates C&D facilities in Norton and Stark County's Osnaburg Township, said the new rules will have a greater impact on opening new dumps than on existing operations.
For the existing dumps, he said, additional water testing will be required and there are new post-closure requirements.
The state action should be helpful because it ``will clarify a lot of things,'' Eslich said.
Grass-root organizations are pleased with the new rules.
``C&D waste is a huge problem right here,'' said Jill Van Voorhis of Sandy Township, who heads the Citizens Against American Landfill Expansion. ``... Stark County is being targeted, especially when it comes in pulverized and by rail.''
Debbie Roth, president of the Warren-based Our Lives Count, described the rules as absolutely necessary.
``It's a step in the right direction,'' she said.
Ohio's previous regulations on C&D sites were far looser than those on regular landfills because it was thought that the material accepted there -- wood, bricks, concrete and the like -- was inert and safe.
But the EPA's Heidenreich said that view is changing.
Much of the impetus for change came from odor problems at the Warren Recycling C&D landfill in Trumbull County and at a C&D site next to the now-closed Mount Eaton Landfill in Wayne County. Complaints from neighbors triggered state and federal investigations at those dumps.
Investigators for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, determined that the rotten-egg smell from the two dumps was a public health hazard.
The smell was created by hydrogen sulfide -- a byproduct of bacteria breaking down gypsum drywall. Hydrogen sulfide can cause eye irritation, sore throat, shortness of breath and fluid in the lungs.
A federal emergency cleanup in 2003 at the now-closed Warren dump cost about $4 million. At the Wayne dump, which is still open, changes were made to reduce odors.
There also were big problems at a C&D site in Stark County's Osnaburg Township.
In 2002, the Stark County Health Department ordered Exit C&D off Fairhill Street Southeast to shut down after repeated violations, including a smouldering underground fire.
One change in Ohio's new C&D dump business isn't related to the new rules. More construction debris is now going into the state's solid-waste landfills because it's cheaper.
Gary Vincent, of R&R Sanitation in Brimfield Township, said his company recently paid $150 to take a load of debris to American Landfill in southern Stark County, for example, rather than pay $265 to go a Summit County C&D site.
He said he is convinced that many haulers are taking C&D materials to solid-waste landfills because of the savings.
Most C&D facilities charge about $6.50 per cubic yard, while solid-waste landfills generally charge $18 to $22 per ton. That means it's cheaper to take lighter C&D loads to a regular landfill and pay by the ton.
EPA spokesman Andrew Booker said a shift of construction debris to solid-waste landfills is not necessarily a bad thing.
While such waste would take up space that would otherwise go to household trash, he said, the solid-waste landfills are generally safer than C&D sites.
``A healthy chunk'' of Ohio's C&D material has been going to regular landfills for a long time, Booker said.
New rules increase ground-water monitoring, runoff tests, ban pulverized waste at construction, demolition landfills
By Bob Downing
Akron Beacon-Journal
AKRON - A smouldering underground fire. Liquid waste dumped in a stream. A sickening rotten-egg odor.
Problems like these have plagued Ohio's construction and demolition landfills.
Now, new rules are about to go into effect that would tighten the state's control over these specialty dumps that take in such debris as concrete, bricks, lumber, plaster board, stone, glass, roofing materials, wiring, plumbing fixtures and insulation.
House Bill 397, which was approved by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bob Taft late last year, bans pulverized waste; expands ground-water monitoring and runoff testing; requires background checks and environmental-compliance checks on new operators; establishes contingency plans for fires, explosions and noxious gases and requires financial assurances to ensure post-closure landfill care.
The new rules give the EPA more authority over the location and building of construction and demolition (C&D) dumps. Such landfills must be at least 100 feet from streams and 500 feet from houses, drinking-water wells, parks, state forests, lakes, natural areas and historic landmarks.
Local health departments will continue to be in charge of inspecting facilities.
``This long overdue legislation is strong and comprehensive,'' said Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council, a statewide eco-group.
``C&D landfills are dangerous and can pose a risk to ground water and the environment. They have been the low-rent, high-risk landfills of Ohio.''
Unlike solid-waste landfills, C&D dumps are not required to have plastic liners. C&D operations are banned from accepting household garbage and hazardous waste.
In 2005, tests by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency showed that C&D dumps were leaking such toxic chemicals as arsenic, lead, cyanide and cadmium and posing a significant threat to neighbors and ground water. That led to legislation tightening the C&D rules.
EPA spokesman Scott Heidenreich said the rules should be in place by mid-June.
Ohio's 69 C&D landfills accept about 7 million tons of debris each year. That's enough material to fill Akron's Rubber Bowl more than 70 times.
Forty percent of that debris is shipped into Ohio by truck and rail, primarily from Ontario and East Coast states that do not have C&D landfills. Much of the debris was pulverized and unrecognizable.
There are three C&D sites in Summit County, two in Stark, three in Wayne; six in Cuyahoga, two in Lorain, two in Trumbull and four in Columbiana.
John Eslich, who owns and operates C&D facilities in Norton and Stark County's Osnaburg Township, said the new rules will have a greater impact on opening new dumps than on existing operations.
For the existing dumps, he said, additional water testing will be required and there are new post-closure requirements.
The state action should be helpful because it ``will clarify a lot of things,'' Eslich said.
Grass-root organizations are pleased with the new rules.
``C&D waste is a huge problem right here,'' said Jill Van Voorhis of Sandy Township, who heads the Citizens Against American Landfill Expansion. ``... Stark County is being targeted, especially when it comes in pulverized and by rail.''
Debbie Roth, president of the Warren-based Our Lives Count, described the rules as absolutely necessary.
``It's a step in the right direction,'' she said.
Ohio's previous regulations on C&D sites were far looser than those on regular landfills because it was thought that the material accepted there -- wood, bricks, concrete and the like -- was inert and safe.
But the EPA's Heidenreich said that view is changing.
Much of the impetus for change came from odor problems at the Warren Recycling C&D landfill in Trumbull County and at a C&D site next to the now-closed Mount Eaton Landfill in Wayne County. Complaints from neighbors triggered state and federal investigations at those dumps.
Investigators for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, determined that the rotten-egg smell from the two dumps was a public health hazard.
The smell was created by hydrogen sulfide -- a byproduct of bacteria breaking down gypsum drywall. Hydrogen sulfide can cause eye irritation, sore throat, shortness of breath and fluid in the lungs.
A federal emergency cleanup in 2003 at the now-closed Warren dump cost about $4 million. At the Wayne dump, which is still open, changes were made to reduce odors.
There also were big problems at a C&D site in Stark County's Osnaburg Township.
In 2002, the Stark County Health Department ordered Exit C&D off Fairhill Street Southeast to shut down after repeated violations, including a smouldering underground fire.
One change in Ohio's new C&D dump business isn't related to the new rules. More construction debris is now going into the state's solid-waste landfills because it's cheaper.
Gary Vincent, of R&R Sanitation in Brimfield Township, said his company recently paid $150 to take a load of debris to American Landfill in southern Stark County, for example, rather than pay $265 to go a Summit County C&D site.
He said he is convinced that many haulers are taking C&D materials to solid-waste landfills because of the savings.
Most C&D facilities charge about $6.50 per cubic yard, while solid-waste landfills generally charge $18 to $22 per ton. That means it's cheaper to take lighter C&D loads to a regular landfill and pay by the ton.
EPA spokesman Andrew Booker said a shift of construction debris to solid-waste landfills is not necessarily a bad thing.
While such waste would take up space that would otherwise go to household trash, he said, the solid-waste landfills are generally safer than C&D sites.
``A healthy chunk'' of Ohio's C&D material has been going to regular landfills for a long time, Booker said.
