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| 09/29/22 |
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To Lee Warren, ADEM 09/28/22
Please accept the following comments as a complaint and follow-up to a letter written by you to Eagle Bluff, September 1, 2022
On 07/25/22, EB Landfill submitted a revised BMP and asked ADEM to respond if and when it was approved. Has the revised BMP been accepted and approved by ADEM? If not, why?
The following comments were found in that letter.
CERTIFIED MAIL 9489 0090 0027 6286 7984 46 RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
“Regarding the Department's inquiry referencing proper operation and maintenance of the wheel wash system and best management practices to minimize offsite tracking, GFL Environmental/Eagle Bluff Landfill responded with a receipt which indicated the wheel wash basin was cleaned on June 7, 2022” and a revised BMP plan was included, among other items.”
The June 7 so-called cleanout is the ONLY one I know of and can document. It has never been properly maintained nor was it properly installed. IF regular cleanouts happen I am pretty sure the water to refill would have to be trucked in or a lot of rain. Residents along 12th street, the path of the water line, consistently complain about lack of water pressure and or volume. People describe having to wait 30 minutes or more for a bath to fill. There are no fire hydrants nearby. Considering the current water supply to the tire wash it would take days to fill. There is NO way Eagle Bluff can comply with that demand in the BMP. The PDF included starts the day before the cleanout and runs to the current situation.
After it was installed, I documented a manhole with a cover adjacent to the tire wash. I call it the mystery valve. When installed it looked like control valves or possible water supply. After only a few short months it was completely obscured by mud and standing water. It was later surrounded with fencing. However, I can find no data as to what it is and why it’s there or what it is for. I have documented this many times to ADEM but as of yet, no inspectors have actually sought an answer or mention it in reports. Mr. Widener said he knew of it but did not know what it was. My belief is that this part of the tire wash system was never completely installed. It has been under a thick layer of mud for several years now.
The same thing holds true for the use of a water truck for dust control. It would take hours if not longer to fill the water truck and about 15 minutes to spray it out. Don’t take my word for it. Send an inspector to review the filling process of either. There is NO way Eagle Bluff can comply with that demand in the BMP.
“The Department's July 13, 2022, Solid Waste Branch Trip Memo indicated that a site visit was conducted on June 15, 2022 and the wheel wash basin appeared to contain excessive sediment. Also, during the June 15, 2022 site visit, 12th Street was observed to be dry and discolored from dust, and sediment was observed along the roadside.”
The department has noted the excessive sediment buildup along 12th street many times over many years, as have I in numerous complaints. IF an adequate “All weather access road” as it is described in the BMP existed there wouldn’t be the need for the tire wash. ADEM routinely drives the inadequate access road and never once has acknowledged the access road does NOT satisfy the permit BMP requirement. In fact ADEM inspectors routinely claim the “haul road” is satisfactory as long as two trucks can pass each other. That is NOT what the BMP requires. Are the inspectors required to read or at least familiarize themselves with the permit requirements?
In all the years I have been documenting this facility there has NEVER been an “all weather access road” road as described in the BMP. From the BMP:
• Maintaining all-weather access road
• Maintaining all-weather unloading pad adjacent to the working face
• Keeping hauling trucks on the all-weather access road and unloading pad; preventing hauling trucks from driving on un-graveled or un-paved surfaces
There are many other items in the BMP that ADEM seems to be reticent to enforce. The vacuum truck which was used briefly to clear 12th street of sediment was a joke in that it only vacuumed for the first few months, After that it was doing nothing more than sweeping unapproved tracking to the side of the road thereby creating an illegal trespass on private property. This was well documented to ADEM at the time. It was replaced with another horizontal street sweeper, which has no way of collecting even 1 grain of sediment. It simply trespasses on private property by distributing tons of sediment illegally on land not owned by the landfill. ADEM is well aware of this but continues to acknowledge a BMP that is not lived up to. Why has ADEM refused to hold this polluter accountable after 25 years that I can document multiple violations of this one BMP requirement?
From the BMP:
• Using a vacuum style sweeper truck at the facility entrance and on 12th Street
• Regular cleaning of facility entrance .
• Routing all storm water run-off to one of the two sediment basins and away from the facility entrance
The landfill has NEVER routed all storm water to the retention ponds. From the location of the tire wash and office area all storm water leaves out the front gate. There is a large deposit of sediment across from the office, inside the fence that is also leaving the site through the gate. This storm water has NEVER been routed to a retention pond despite all of the waste traffic that runs across that stretch of road.
As for the tire wash as installed, it actually creates offsite tracking when in use due to the lack of an approved exit pad.
On 07/25/22 Eagle Bluff letter
“The landfill has designed and installed a wheel wash. If tires require cleaning, customer trucks will be required to pass through the wheel wash after disposing of their load and prior to exiting the facility. The wheel wash system is self-contained, and no water will be allowed to discharge from this system. Any solids that accumulate within this system will be removed and placed in the landfill area. Any liquid that is required to be removed will be disposed at a proper disposal facility. At no point will liquid from the wheel wash system be allowed to discharge through the stormwater drainage system.”
The wheel wash is NOT self-contained and does, in fact, contribute more to the tracking issue. The exit ramp terminates at the end of the tire wash. It does NOT extend far enough to allow the final cleaning of tires as prescribed. The trucks have to turn immediately to the left directly adjacent to the gate. Most trucks pull large amounts of water out of the pit and onto the muddy entrance. Large ponds of water can be seen after long dry periods. I believe the pit may be leaking or the mystery valve. When it rains heavily is the only times I have documented the water level in the device fluctuate. It fills up in heavy rain and trucks drag most of it out on the ground where it runs into the storm water drain system leading to the storm water pond. The other side of the exit dumps hundreds of gallons of potentially toxic waste water into the street via the mud holes created by trucks exiting the improperly installed tire wash. (See the video clips)
I have submitted dozens of photos and almost as many video clips proving the truth of my comment here. If needed, I can submit hundreds more since the permit renewal was applied for if needed.
The tire wash was installed after dozens of complaints filed by FOHC about offsite tracking. My files go back to 2007 in which I can prove there has never been an all weather access road as described in the BMP.
All Weather Access road as written in the BMP.
• “Maintaining all-weather access road
• Maintaining all-weather unloading pad adjacent to the working face
• Keeping hauling trucks on the all-weather access road and unloading pad; preventing hauling trucks from driving on un-graveled or un-paved surfaces .
At no time, ever in the past has such an access road existed. Why does ADEM require such a well-written BMP plan and then refuse to enforce it?
“Section 4.2 of the BMP Plan states that the Wheel Wash System will be inspected at least twice per week as part of good housekeeping practices in which to control the off-site tracking at the facility. The Department expects that the wheel wash will be cleaned as necessary to minimize offsite tracking. In addition, the Department expects the landfill to be vigilant in minimizing offsite tracking and continuing to consider and implement additional BMPs that would reduce offsite tracking.”
The department may be expecting too much from this polluter. The facility doesn’t have the capacity or water availability to maintain the tire wash and the water truck they claim to use to address dust.
Letter from ADEM 09/01/22.
“Within 30 days of receipt of this letter, GFL Environmental/Eagle Bluff Landfill should provide the following:
• Dates that the wheel wash was cleaned since installation
(once, 06/07/22)
• Details regarding the maintenance practices of the wheel wash system and onsite sediment basins (i.e., what triggers cleaning/maintenance and what the maintenance procedures entail). ((None exist as of yet.))
• Details regarding procedures to train drivers to ensure trucks are properly utilizing the wheel wash system. (none)
• Verification if the wheel wash system has been inspected at least twice per week. (I doubt such valid records exist)
• Additional corrective measures that have been considered and why they were determined not to be feasible to minimize offsite tracking of sediment/dirt (e.g., additional pavement prior to the exit, additional cleaning of pavement prior to exit, driving routes to dislodge additional material from tires prior and/or after the wheel wash).”
(No additional BMPs have been implemented even though the pollution coming from this violator seems to be increasing over time, not getting better.)
The biggest reason the birdbath tire wash doesn’t work is because it was never installed as designed with a longer exit. In a letter to ADEM dated 10/18/19 Michael Stubbs wrote
“Wheel Wash Design and Installation: The wheel wash system design concept has been determined and preparation for construction and installation is underway. However, it is anticipated that construction may not be completed by the end of the year due to several factors including: reconfiguring the entrance area infrastructure by removing the existing hauling company, relocating the landfill office, and rerouting access roads; relocation of existing utilities; contractor availability; and construction product lead times.”
The project did, in fact complete on time because they never realigned the exit route as stated above by Mr. Stubbs. None of the reasons stated for being late were actually undertaken. This is why the tire wash is malfunctioning and creating more tracking than it fixes. It can not be considered a working BMP as built. From my experience and files available to ADEM I can answer many of the requests above simply by looking at ADEM files.
I seriously believe this facility simply cannot comply with the permit as written. The track record proves that and shows it got much worse when ADEM approved doubling the daily waste limit.
07/31/22 BMP still being considered. (ADEM)
Lee,
Would you please explain why ADEM requires such strict BMP plans to acquire a permit but doesn’t require the polluter to follow it? Maybe Mr. LeFleur can explain.
If the BMP plan is not a document to follow, why waste time and the expense of the polluter by requiring an impotent document? According to the RCRA laws any landfill that does not have a valid and working BMP cannot be considered a land fill but instead, an open dump. Eagle Bluff in my opinion is an open dump and needs to be shuttered.
"According to RCRA § 4004(a), landfills that do not comply with the criteria in 40 CFR Part 257 are classified as prohibited open dumps. "
Our 60-day notice will expire next month. I can assure you these questions will be asked under oath.
John L. Wathen,
Hurricane Creekkeeper
Friends of Hurricane Creek
Creekkeeper is a member of
Waterkeeper Alliance
www.waterkeeper.org
Who has the authority to say someone else
is not being a good steward of the environment?
Photos below
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