No evidence of leakages from landfill, CC report indicates

When county resident David Ledbetter addressed concerns about violations by Waste Management to Charles City supervisors at a Sept. 3 town hall meeting, some citizens lashed out at local representatives for not relaying information on the situation to the public. However, at the Sept. 23 regular board of supervisors meeting, concerns over the violation were clarified.

Documents provided to the Chronicle along with confirmation from county administrator Zach Trogdon revealed that alleged leakages of hazardous materials from the Waste Management landfill into groundwater were misconstrued from earlier reports.

During the town hall meeting, Ledbetter read a report provided by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on Waste Management’s non-compliance to violations. Those violations targeted three tanks that allegedly housed hazardous waste that was seeping through the tanks into groundwater and local residents’ wells this past June and July. However, a report by CH2MHill, the company that reports the activity of Waste Management to county supervisors, says that information was false.

Trogdon confirmed the findings of CH2MHill, saying the information that has been reported and spread through the county on the situation is inaccurate.

“There is no truth into that,” said the county administrator on the leakage. “Waste Management is under a consent order to manage the way those types of materials are to be handled.

“None of that material is seeping into the groundwater,” he concluded.

District 2 representative and board chairman Bill Coada also commented, saying that both supervisors and DEQ are aware of the operations of Waste Management.

“CH2MHill has groundwater monitoring and there are no results or evidence that supports contamination,” said Coada, who represents the district where the landfill is located. “However, DEQ did find other violations with the landfill and has appropriately handled them with Waste Management.

“As for the leaking from the landfill into the groundwater, there is no evidence to substantiate that,” Coada concluded.

In documentation provided to the Chronicle, CH2MHill confirms that no contamination of groundwater was present over the two-month time period during the summer. CH2MHill also reported that Waste Management had met the compliance requirements from DEQ by the end of August.