New rules proposed for landfill closings

EPA says more accurate closing cost part of water protection.

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By Brandon Smith-Hebson, Staff Writer 10:28 PM Thursday, December 29, 2011

SPRINGFIELD — When you tear down a building, it doesn’t just go away.

The rubble of former structures — and trash generated in construction projects — goes to landfills the state has regulated less than landfills for garbage. But that’s been changing over the past few years, landfill owners said, and new rules proposed by Ohio EPA this week reflect the trend.

Two landfills in Clark and Champaign counties will be affected if the rules are enacted: Springfield Landfill, at 2600 N. Mechanicsburg Road; and a landfill operated by Springfield’s General Contractors Co. at 5213 Neer Road, near Catawba.

These landfills hold the remains of old schools, libraries and homes from Springfield and other nearby cities.

Because both landfills began before 2006, they were grandfathered in under certain parts of the new rules. But if enacted, the rules will require all landfills to more closely estimate the cost to secure their waste once they close. As has been the case, the money goes into a kind of trust.

“The old system was simply based on number of landfill acres. It was a set $13,500 an acre,” said Kitt Cooper, owner of Vance Environmental, a construction waste landfill in Dayton. “The new style is for you to determine exactly what your closing cost for your facility will be, and for you to put up that money.”

Securing a landfill involves a “cap,” or cover, so rainwater doesn’t seep through the material and down into groundwater, where it could taint wells. Groundwater safety is a primary reason for Ohio EPA’s new rules.

Springfield Landfill and the landfill run by General Contractors Co. both hire someone to test groundwater under their facilities once a year, in order to comply with their county health department license.

“You’d just count it as an expense and operate as you do,” said Dennis Lenox, an employee of Springfield Landfill, about the proposed new rules. “If that’s what (EPA) wants, we’d have to do it. ... I would think it’s a good rule, anytime you’re messing with your water supplies.”

The owners of General Contractors Co. declined to comment for this article.

Ohio EPA worked with landfill owners on the time frame to implement the new closure trust level.

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