Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
1/16/2015
The operator of the Bridgeton Landfill agreed last week, after court negotiations with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR), to relocate two Temperature Monitoring Probes (TMP) closer to the radioactively contaminated portion of the West Lake Landfill. The state had requested the relocation late last month following concerns that a smoldering fire may be moving toward the radioactively contaminated portion of the site, but Republic Services, the operator of the site, downplayed the threat and so far has not acted on the DNR’s request. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster took legal action by seeking a court order that would require the move, as well as the submittal of monthly carbon monoxide and temperature monitoring updates.
However, the two parties agreed to the relocation of two TMPs, according to a court order, but a judge ordered more briefs on the state’s request for monthly monitoring updates. “The Parties agree to relocate approved TMP’s 24 and 26 to the approximate locations identified in the Missouri Department of Natural Resource’s December 26, 2014 letter,” the Jan. 9 court order said. “Bridgeton Landfill, LCC shall, by January 16, 2015 submit a work plan to proceed with installation of relocated TMP’s 24 and 26, consistent with methodologies utilized for the installation of the most recently installed TMP’s, which do not include coring or sampling corings or cuttings. Bridgeton landfill shall promptly commence construction preparation upon approval for the work plan and expedite construction upon availability of the drilling equipment, weather permitting.”
Back in September, Todd Thalhamer, a consultant for the state of Missouri, suggested that temperature spikes in monitoring probes and gas interceptor wells spread throughout the South Quarry, the location of the smoldering fire, indicated it may be spreading to the ‘neck’ area that connects to the West Lake portion of the site. In response, the site operator brought in a consultant service, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC), to provide analysis on the spreading fire. CEC concluded that the fire is spreading away from the ‘neck’ area, not toward it. Republic, however, agreed to honor the state’s request to install 12 more TMPs just above the ‘neck’ area, but the company maintained the fire was under control.
December Fluctuations Caused More State Concern
Data fluctuations that were detected in December prompted the state’s request for the relocation and updated monthly monitoring reports, according to the state’s court filing. “After the data fluctuations were detected in December 2014, Defendants replaced several gas extraction well heads in the North Quarry,” the state said. “However, due to the limited amount of well field equipment and the delayed reporting of monitoring data to the State, whether the change to the monitoring equipment has adequately addressed the fluctuations in the North Quarry is, at best, unclear. Therefore, to protect the health and safety of the public and the environment, the State moves for a temporary restraining order mandating Defendants to comply with the demands set forth in the State’s December 26, 2014 letter.”
Republic, for its part, has maintained that the fire is not moving towards the contamination. Republic spokesman Russ Knocke said in a statement last week that the state was referencing an emergency that did not exist. “Republic is fully committed to the safety of its employees and neighbors, and to the aggressive management of the subsurface reaction,” Knocke said. “Those commitments are spelled out explicitly in a binding legal agreement with the State and we have repeatedly gone above and beyond those commitments. Bridgeton Landfill is in a managed state. It is safe and stabilized. The site, along with the adjacent West Lake Landfill, is among the most studied and closely monitored landfills in the country. The Landfill has invested considerable resources – more than $125 million — to do right by the community.” He added, “The data continue to show, quite clearly, that the reaction is not moving through the North Quarry toward the RIM [radiologically impacted material].”
Smoldering Fire Adding Cleanup Urgency
The West Lake Landfill cleanup project has taken on an added sense of urgency after recent reports revealed that the site contains more radioactive waste closer to the nearby smoldering fire than previously thought. Currently, the West Lake Landfill is under the supervision of the EPA’s Superfund program, which took over responsibility for the site in 1990. The EPA is conducting an engineering survey and groundwater analysis of the site to determine the best location to construct an isolation barrier to prevent the spread of the fire located near the radioactive part of the landfill. The EPA has also brought in the Army Corps of Engineers to assist on the project by providing technical review and oversight of the site owner’s cleanup plans and activities at the site, after public outcry called for a more experienced approach to the cleanup. In a recent analysis of the project from the fall, the Corps estimated that the construction of an isolation barrier to separate the fire from the contamination would not start for at least 18 months.
