Published: November 02, 2009 08:51 am      

County temporarily halts landfill project

A project between the city of Richmond and the state department of environmental protection recently came to a halt after Madison Judge/Executive Kent Clark stepped in to make sure Four Mile Road, which is a county road, remained as undisturbed as possible.

“The state environmental cabinet is trying to clean up these (landfill) dump sites,” Clark said. “They send big tanker trucks to get it and haul it off to a disposal site.”

Richmond’s landfill on Box Angle Road has not been in use since the mid-1990s, and still was being tested for groundwater contaminants that were pumped out daily.

When a landfill is closed, the runoff must be tested until it becomes non-hazardous to the groundwater, said Scott Althauser in a May interview. Althauser is superintendent of Richmond Utilities.

A $1.2 million state grant received by the city in May was given to help redirect the landfill’s water waste, also known as leachate, into a force main sewer.

“They’re trying all over the state to get these cleaned up and get the groundwater into a safe, regional sewer system,” Clark said.

The problem lies in the fact that the fiscal court has not been informed about the project’s process, Clark said.

“They really didn’t bother to come in and show us the plans,” Clark said. “We called and had the project shut down until we could all get together and work things out. We were able to work out a little better design where they didn’t cut up as much road and didn’t tear up as much ground.”

Digging for the force main was being done on both sides of Four Mile Road because of the landscaping, Clark said.

The less obstructive way to complete the project is simply go down one side of the road, Clark said.

The county will continue to inspect the project’s progress, he said.

Aside from cleaning up the environment, another positive result of the project is improving the safety on Four Mile Road.

“It will also keep the tanker trucks (used to collect and haul the water samples) off Four Mile Road,” he said. “It’s very dangerous.”

The city’s former landfill on Box Angle Road has been covered with vegetation, and the leachate tanks were installed about seven years ago.

The waste is then deposited in a manhole located on the site of the Richmond Fire Station Training Center, also located on Four Mile Road.

When the force main is complete, the waste water from the former landfill will go into Richmond’s sewer system, he said.

The state also will provide funding for the county’s road department so that the construction areas can be blacktopped again, Clark said.

The contract for the project was awarded in May to Somerset-based Weddle Enterprises Inc.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.