GreenYes Archives

[GreenYes Archives] - [Thread Index] - [Date Index]
[Date Prev] - [Date Next] - [Thread Prev] - [Thread Next]


[greenyes] C&D Landfills Not Necessarily Benign


[If this testing is pervasive, the current costs of C&D disposal are half
what they otherwise would be, and efforts to recover C&D would be that much
more competitive. C&D recyclers should follow this. - peter]


CINCINNATI INQUIRER - September 28, 2005

Construction debris landfills hazardous
The Associated Press

PROBLEMS FOUND
The nine landfills tested by the Ohio EPA included:

A&L Salvage Landfill, Columbiana County

Athens-Hocking Demolition Landfill, Athens County

Cuyahoga Regional Landfill, Cuyahoga County

Exit C&DD Landfill, Stark County

Iron Valley C&DD Landfill, Lawrence County

LAS C&DD Landfill, Trumbull County

Mount Eaton C&DD Landfill, Wayne County

Sidwell C&DD Landfill, Washington County

Warren Recycling C&DD Landfill, Mahoning County


COLUMBUS - Lead, arsenic and cyanide leaked out of lightly regulated
landfills that are supposed to hold only bricks, wood, concrete and other
construction debris, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency reported in a
study released Tuesday.
The tests also found high levels of other metals, plus pesticides and other
man-made chemicals. While arsenic can be present in treated lumber or other
legitimate construction debris, the agency is concerned that the
contaminants could mean household or hazardous waste is illegally being
dumped.
None of the landfills tested is in Southwest Ohio.
"If this material is in the leachate, that's a concern regardless of where
it came from," EPA spokeswoman Linda Fee Oros said.
The landfills aren't required to have packed clay or hard plastic liners as
municipal landfills are to protect groundwater. When operators shut them
down, they're required only to pack dirt on top and plant vegetation, and
there's no required monitoring of the groundwater.
However, they are required to collect the rainwater that seeps through the
debris while operating. Most build the landfill on a slope that collects the
drainage water in a pond and pumps it into tanks, Oros said.
In samples from such tanks at nine construction landfills, the average level
of arsenic was 20 times greater than the state standard for drinking water,
and the lead level was double the drinking water standard.
"...
"...




_____________________________
Peter Anderson, President
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705-4964
Ph: (608) 231-1100
Fax: (608) 233-0011
Cell: (608) 698-1314
eMail: anderson@no.address
web: www.recycleworlds.net






[GreenYes Archives] - [Date Index] - [Thread Index]
[Date Prev] - [Date Next] - [Thread Prev] - [Thread Next]