• Manager has not heard from Waste Management on any effect on proposed Columbus County landfill. County Chairman Sammie Jacobs too busy and ‘tied up’ to comment.
By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer
Tougher rules for landfills may make North Carolina and Columbus County less attractive to landfill developers if legislators decide to enact legislation based on recent recommendations.
It’s unclear, for now, what effect the recommendations will have on the proposed 107-acre landfill developers want to locate in the Green Swamp, six miles south of Bolton.
It has been reported that Waste Management Inc has backed out of a deal in Scotland County because of the proposed rule changes.
County response
“I probably will get a letter from Waste Management,” County Manager Jim Varner said Friday. “Waste Management has spent millions and millions; somebody is going to be responsible for a lot.”
Varner said he had “no earthly idea” if the recommendations would affect the Columbus County Riegel Ridge landfill proposal but pointed out the commissioners had given the company “the green light.”
Varner was not clear on how far along the company was in the permit process but said: “I thought Waste Management had a permit of some kind (before the moratorium).”
Varner’s recollection of what the deal would be between the county and Waste Management was fuzzy.
He said he thought the project would bring the county about $1 million a year and the county would be given free disposal.
Varner pointed out, “Raleigh and the U.S. government tell us what to do.” He said: “County commissioners don’t have much leverage.”
As for the impact of the landfill financially, Varner said “if that landfill comes here or (is) going – we stay in rainy days.”
Varner said Waste Management might have called some of the commissioners, but not him.
Chairman ‘tied up’
Chairman Sammie Jacobs said he was golfing when The News Reporter contacted him on his cell phone Friday.
When asked if he could return the call later, he responded that he was “tied up.”
The reporter reiterated he could call afterwards and Jacobs said “I have a family thing after that.”
The N.C. Division of Environment and Natural Resources Waste management Division recommendations, if passed into law, would make the permitting process for landfills more costly and environmental protections stricter.
Riegel Ridge LLC, one of more than 1,600 subsidiaries of Waste Management Inc has been involved in a long permitting process for the proposed Columbus County landfill that began in March 2000. The project had not obtained a permit to construct or a permit to operate although it had jumped several other hurdles.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit allowing developers to fill in a two-thirds acre wetland at the location southwest of Highway 211 at Roberts Road.
Opposition from groups such as Friends of the Green Swamp emerged and the group unsuccessfully challenged a state water quality permit the developers had been issued.
With the blessings of five of seven Columbus County Commissioners and promises of $1 million in county revenue, the project continued to move forward until state legislation would bring all landfill projects in the state to a halt. That state moratorium on landfills is set to expire in August of this year.
Recommendations
The recommendations call for operators to put up a minimum of $3 million in case of a leak or other needed corrective action. Other measures strengthen compliance reviews. Persons with any interest in the entity applying for the permit would be subject to a review of past environmental violations.
Full disclosure
Owner-operators would include “any person who has financial or equitable interest in the entity applying for the permit.”
Authorizing injunctive or immediate relief and civil penalties for violations is suggested, as well as forcing violators to pay the cost for investigating violations.
When business entities that hold permits change hands, the department recommends notification in 30 days and the right to “require a new environmental compliance or financial qualification review.”
Standards such as leak testing of containers are recommended for safe transportation of waste by railway or barge.
Traffic study
Facilities handling more than 100,000 tons of waste per year would be required to include a traffic impact study in the permit request.
Local landfill liaisons are recommended. The individual would be a certified landfill manager, not direct the operation of the landfill but have the authority to inspect the facility.
Developers would be required to hire an independent quality assurance engineer to oversee landfill construction.
Stream buffers
A 200-foot buffer between the waste boundary and streams or wetlands, is proposed, along with a number of construction standards for double liners.
Local government-owned landfills that receive more than 300,000 tons of waste per year, have a radius of more than 100 miles or a total disposal capacity of more than 15 million cubic yards would no longer be an exception to environmental studies required of large landfills.
Deny permits
The department also recommends nine specific reasons or grounds that would give them authority to deny permits, including the violation of water quality standards, jeopardy of renewable resources, damage to fragile areas such as places that provide habitat for threatened or endangered species, among others.
The recommendations call for permit fees and a statewide surcharge of $2 per ton of solid waste disposed.