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Chemical leak at landfill

Tear in synthetic cover over Stark County facility releases up to 5,000 gallons of liquid into pond

By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer

A synthetic cover over a landfill in southern Stark County ripped, allowing up to 5,000 gallons of chemical-laced liquid to leak out.

The leachate was contained in a sediment pond at Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility, and none of it got off the 258-acre site in Pike Township, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency reported Friday.

The rip in the cover was discovered Monday, and repairs were quickly made, EPA staff member Lynn Sowers told the governing board of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Solid Waste Management District.

How much liquid escaped was difficult to gauge, but was probably between 200 and 5,000 gallons, she said.

None of the liquid reached a ditch or stream, she said. The pond was pumped out, with the waste going to a sewage-treatment plant for disposal.

The synthetic cover was placed over 35 of the landfill's original 88 acres because of underground fires and odor problems. It is made of the same type of material that forms the liner under the waste.

Sowers said this material can deteriorate from exposure to ultraviolet light when it's atop a landfill. It can also be stressed and stretched by uneven settling at a landfill.

In some places at Countywide, which is owned and operated by Florida-based Republic Services Inc., there has been settlement of 30 to 40 feet.

The synthetic cover ripped before, Sowers said, but no leachate escaped on that occasion.

Republic Services is under Ohio and U.S. EPA orders to cap the 88-acre area, to drain excess leachate to boost slope stability and to improve the gas-extraction system to curtail odors.

Sowers reported that four drainage wells have been installed to help dry out the landfill, but it's difficult to gauge how well they are working.

The federal EPA will collect air samples around Countywide during the week of May 28, she said.

Sixty-five odor complaints about the landfill were filed in April, up from the 63 complaints in March, she said.

A company plan to check for dioxins and furans, two hazardous air pollutants, has been reviewed by the EPA and should be final soon, she said.

The landfill, one of the largest in Ohio, handles about 6,000 tons of trash a day, including about half of Summit County's residential garbage.


Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.

A synthetic cover over a landfill in southern Stark County ripped, allowing up to 5,000 gallons of chemical-laced liquid to leak out.

The leachate was contained in a sediment pond at Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility, and none of it got off the 258-acre site in Pike Township, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency reported Friday.

The rip in the cover was discovered Monday, and repairs were quickly made, EPA staff member Lynn Sowers told the governing board of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Solid Waste Management District.

How much liquid escaped was difficult to gauge, but was probably between 200 and 5,000 gallons, she said.

None of the liquid reached a ditch or stream, she said. The pond was pumped out, with the waste going to a sewage-treatment plant for disposal.

The synthetic cover was placed over 35 of the landfill's original 88 acres because of underground fires and odor problems. It is made of the same type of material that forms the liner under the waste.

Sowers said this material can deteriorate from exposure to ultraviolet light when it's atop a landfill. It can also be stressed and stretched by uneven settling at a landfill.

In some places at Countywide, which is owned and operated by Florida-based Republic Services Inc., there has been settlement of 30 to 40 feet.

The synthetic cover ripped before, Sowers said, but no leachate escaped on that occasion.

Republic Services is under Ohio and U.S. EPA orders to cap the 88-acre area, to drain excess leachate to boost slope stability and to improve the gas-extraction system to curtail odors.

Sowers reported that four drainage wells have been installed to help dry out the landfill, but it's difficult to gauge how well they are working.

The federal EPA will collect air samples around Countywide during the week of May 28, she said.

Sixty-five odor complaints about the landfill were filed in April, up from the 63 complaints in March, she said.

A company plan to check for dioxins and furans, two hazardous air pollutants, has been reviewed by the EPA and should be final soon, she said.

The landfill, one of the largest in Ohio, handles about 6,000 tons of trash a day, including about half of Summit County's residential garbage.


Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.



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