Southbridge health director predicts end for Casella landfill
By
Brian Lee
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Jun 26, 2017 at 9:37 PM
Updated Jun 26, 2017 at 11:36 PM
SOUTHBRIDGE – A town official said he anticipates the closing of the
town-owned regional landfill in one to four years, unless he’s told
different.
Health Director Andrew R. Pelletier made the remarks recently, when he was asked about the future of landfill on Barefoot Road, in light of a resounding defeat of a non-binding ballot question about expanding the approximately 51-acre facility.
Casella Waste Systems of Rutland, Vermont, doing business as the Southbridge Recycling and Disposal Park, has managed the landfill since 2003.
Without an expansion, the landfill is expected to reach capacity in 2018.
Casella posed the ballot question on June 13. It asked voters to allow the company and manager to engage in negotiations about expanding the landfill, including onto land owned by the municipal airport.
Separate from the ballot question, Casella has a pending request to
the state Department of Environmental Protection to add at least three
additional years of capacity to the landfill. In February, the DEP
rejected the request in its “site suitability” report. The DEP cited
“insufficient information.” The company has since submitted an amendment
to the request in an effort to satisfy weaknesses in the application.
The DEP is accepting comments on the amended version until August.
Casella general manager Thomas Cue did not return a message seeking comment about the landfill’s future.
Mr. Pelletier said he doesn’t know if the company wants to fill up the site-assigned landfill and walk away, continue to pursue an additional site assignment, or attempt to move to another site under yet another site assignment.
“I really can’t get a read on them right now,” the health director said.
If the DEP finds the amended site suitability report favorable, Mr.
Pelletier said the Southbridge Board of Health is prepared to hold site
assignment hearings.
The overall expansion Casella seeks contains multiple phases, but some are no longer on the table.
For instance, a phase proposed to add about two years of capacity in neighboring Charlton isn’t feasible because Charlton did not approve zoning for it, Mr. Pelletier said.
The phase the state is currently considering involves land northeast of the landfill; it would add about 18 months of capacity. Another triangular parcel would add another 18 months of capacity, and other small areas could bring another 18 months, the Southbridge official said.
In addition, Casella purchased the McKinstry property, consisting of 82 acres near the landfill, in December 2015 for $775,000. If the company pursues a site assignment for that land, it could bring an additional four-plus years of capacity, Mr. Pelletier said.
Despite the company keeping its intentions close to the vest the past nine months, Casella remains “a good partner” that has addressed all landfill issues as they arise, Mr. Pelletier suggested.
In the months leading up to the vote, Casella conducted a visible campaign, asking voters to put “Put Southbridge First” and consider the more than $4 million in cash and services Casella provided for the town, including free trash pickup until 2027.
After the question was defeated, critics pointed to the fact that Mr. Cue of Casella previously stated the company would go away quietly upon a defeat of the ballot question.
Meanwhile, Kirstie L. Pecci, a Sturbridge resident and local lawyer
who has been helping residents of Southbridge, Sturbridge and Charlton
contest a landfill expansion, said that the test results in Casella’s
recent reporting to the DEP show worsening levels of contamination in
monitoring wells at the landfill.
In one well, 1,4-dioxane is more than 400 micrograms per liter. The state’s recommended drinking water standard for 1,4-dioxane is 0.3 micrograms per liter.
“That’s really contaminated,” she said. “If anything we’re seeing that the situation is even worse than we thought it was.”
She said she’s also concerned that the company continues to accept soil that is contaminated with lead.
“It’s even clearer (now) that the DEP should not allow this expansion of the Phase 2 area, given the circumstances,” she said. “It’s really dangerous.”
Ms. Pecci accused the company of holding onto the information so that it wouldn’t be available to voters in June. The company, according to Ms. Pecci, possessed the test results in late April.
“To me this is just holding off and not sharing information that the town should have seen before the election, certainly,” she said.
Health Director Andrew R. Pelletier made the remarks recently, when he was asked about the future of landfill on Barefoot Road, in light of a resounding defeat of a non-binding ballot question about expanding the approximately 51-acre facility.
Casella Waste Systems of Rutland, Vermont, doing business as the Southbridge Recycling and Disposal Park, has managed the landfill since 2003.
Without an expansion, the landfill is expected to reach capacity in 2018.
Casella posed the ballot question on June 13. It asked voters to allow the company and manager to engage in negotiations about expanding the landfill, including onto land owned by the municipal airport.
Southbridge landfill timeline
1979 - Southbridge Board of Health issues site assignment for a town-owned, unlined landfill at 165 Barefoot Road.
1994 - The first lined landfill cell begins operating, one year after the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act federally mandates that all new or expanded landfill cells must be lined.
1996 - Southbridge enters agreement with Wood Recycling Inc. to operate the landfill.
2000 - State Department of Environmental Protection cites Wood Recycling for air quality and waste violations.
2002 - Eight-day trash fire at landfill.
2003 - Wood Recycling, Southbridge, state DEP and state attorney general discuss concerns about ongoing air quality, hazardous waste management, solid waste management and industrial wastewater violations.
Casella Waste Systems Inc. purchases Wood Recycling stock and changes name of company to Southbridge Recycling & Disposal Park. Environmental remediation begins.
2004 - Casella continues environmental improvements to address issues raised by DEP and AG at the landfill from 2000 to 2003. Casella caps and closes unlined portion of landfill.
2005 - Worker dies in a conveyor belt accident at the landfill.
2007 - Southbridge Town Council approves an amended agreement for the operation of the Southbridge landfill, to 2027.
2008 - Southbridge Board of Health grants a minor modification to the site assignment for the landfill, allowing Casella to seek approval to accept into the landfill up to 405,000 tons of municipal solid waste per year. It had been permitted to receive 180,960 tons per year of construction and demolition residuals and limited solid waste from Southbridge households.
2012 - SRDP brings a landfill gas to energy facility online, generating 1.6 megawatts per hour of electricity.
2014 - The SRDP leases a building on SRDP-owned land adjacent to the landfill to operate a construction and demolition recycling operation.
2016 - Casella launches "Put Southbridge First!" campaign, collecting signatures during presidential election to push for a potential expansion, and sends mailers to Southbridge's approximately 11,000 registered voters.
2017 - State and Casella agree to each pay up to $5 million for the construction of a water line in Charlton, in a neighborhood of contaminated private wells near the Southbridge landfill.
Southbridge voters disapprove of a nonbinding ballot question to potentially expand the municipal landfill, by a 1,303 to 852 tally.
2018 - Anticipated year when landfill, without an expansion, would reach capacity.
1994 - The first lined landfill cell begins operating, one year after the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act federally mandates that all new or expanded landfill cells must be lined.
1996 - Southbridge enters agreement with Wood Recycling Inc. to operate the landfill.
2000 - State Department of Environmental Protection cites Wood Recycling for air quality and waste violations.
2002 - Eight-day trash fire at landfill.
2003 - Wood Recycling, Southbridge, state DEP and state attorney general discuss concerns about ongoing air quality, hazardous waste management, solid waste management and industrial wastewater violations.
Casella Waste Systems Inc. purchases Wood Recycling stock and changes name of company to Southbridge Recycling & Disposal Park. Environmental remediation begins.
2004 - Casella continues environmental improvements to address issues raised by DEP and AG at the landfill from 2000 to 2003. Casella caps and closes unlined portion of landfill.
2005 - Worker dies in a conveyor belt accident at the landfill.
2007 - Southbridge Town Council approves an amended agreement for the operation of the Southbridge landfill, to 2027.
2008 - Southbridge Board of Health grants a minor modification to the site assignment for the landfill, allowing Casella to seek approval to accept into the landfill up to 405,000 tons of municipal solid waste per year. It had been permitted to receive 180,960 tons per year of construction and demolition residuals and limited solid waste from Southbridge households.
2012 - SRDP brings a landfill gas to energy facility online, generating 1.6 megawatts per hour of electricity.
2014 - The SRDP leases a building on SRDP-owned land adjacent to the landfill to operate a construction and demolition recycling operation.
2016 - Casella launches "Put Southbridge First!" campaign, collecting signatures during presidential election to push for a potential expansion, and sends mailers to Southbridge's approximately 11,000 registered voters.
2017 - State and Casella agree to each pay up to $5 million for the construction of a water line in Charlton, in a neighborhood of contaminated private wells near the Southbridge landfill.
Southbridge voters disapprove of a nonbinding ballot question to potentially expand the municipal landfill, by a 1,303 to 852 tally.
2018 - Anticipated year when landfill, without an expansion, would reach capacity.
Casella general manager Thomas Cue did not return a message seeking comment about the landfill’s future.
Mr. Pelletier said he doesn’t know if the company wants to fill up the site-assigned landfill and walk away, continue to pursue an additional site assignment, or attempt to move to another site under yet another site assignment.
“I really can’t get a read on them right now,” the health director said.
The overall expansion Casella seeks contains multiple phases, but some are no longer on the table.
For instance, a phase proposed to add about two years of capacity in neighboring Charlton isn’t feasible because Charlton did not approve zoning for it, Mr. Pelletier said.
The phase the state is currently considering involves land northeast of the landfill; it would add about 18 months of capacity. Another triangular parcel would add another 18 months of capacity, and other small areas could bring another 18 months, the Southbridge official said.
In addition, Casella purchased the McKinstry property, consisting of 82 acres near the landfill, in December 2015 for $775,000. If the company pursues a site assignment for that land, it could bring an additional four-plus years of capacity, Mr. Pelletier said.
Despite the company keeping its intentions close to the vest the past nine months, Casella remains “a good partner” that has addressed all landfill issues as they arise, Mr. Pelletier suggested.
In the months leading up to the vote, Casella conducted a visible campaign, asking voters to put “Put Southbridge First” and consider the more than $4 million in cash and services Casella provided for the town, including free trash pickup until 2027.
After the question was defeated, critics pointed to the fact that Mr. Cue of Casella previously stated the company would go away quietly upon a defeat of the ballot question.
In one well, 1,4-dioxane is more than 400 micrograms per liter. The state’s recommended drinking water standard for 1,4-dioxane is 0.3 micrograms per liter.
“That’s really contaminated,” she said. “If anything we’re seeing that the situation is even worse than we thought it was.”
She said she’s also concerned that the company continues to accept soil that is contaminated with lead.
“It’s even clearer (now) that the DEP should not allow this expansion of the Phase 2 area, given the circumstances,” she said. “It’s really dangerous.”
Ms. Pecci accused the company of holding onto the information so that it wouldn’t be available to voters in June. The company, according to Ms. Pecci, possessed the test results in late April.
“To me this is just holding off and not sharing information that the town should have seen before the election, certainly,” she said.
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