Envirosafe seeking permit extension

6/25/2005

The hazardous waste landfill operated by Envirosafe Services of Ohio Inc. along Otter Creek Road in Oregon is seeking state approval for another decade of operation.

Comments on a number of modifications, including proposed changes to the landfill's closure plan, will be accepted by Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials at 7 p.m. Monday in the Clay High School auditorium, 5665 Seaman Rd., Oregon.

The public hearing will be preceded by an overview from agency officials about the proposed 10-year renewal to the company's operating permit.

Written comments will be accepted through July 11.

The landfill is the only commercially operated dump in Ohio licensed to bury hazardous waste.

About 85 percent of the material it has accepted in recent years has been electric arc furnace dust from steel mill baghouses. Baghouses capture dust and particle air pollutants with filters.

Agency officials will consider the request for a vertical expansion of the landfill's active pit - located south of York Street and known as Cell M - to a height of 120 feet. Waste is now allowed up to a height of 74 feet.

Dina Pierce, Ohio EPA spokesman, said a tentative agreement on the proposed expansion calls for a stabilization factor that's at least 50 percent greater than the minimally acceptable standard. That means Cell M must be able to hold at least 150 pounds for every 100 pounds the company buries.

With the expansion, the landfill's capacity would increase from 2.38 million cubic yards to 3.25 million cubic yards, the Ohio EPA has said.

Doug Robert, Envirosafe president, said the expansion would allow Cell M to remain viable through 2011 or 2012.

He said Envirosafe will sacrifice the potential to bury - and collect revenue from - about 100,000 tons of hazardous waste by agreeing to a greater stabilization factor.

The company initially sought a safety margin of 30 percent over the minimum. The stabilization factor of 50 percent over minimum is the standard weight-bearing regulation for traditional solid waste landfills, Ms. Pierce said.

Envirosafe may revisit the idea of spending millions of dollars to develop another cell at its Oregon landfill in two or three years, depending on whether the market for steel industry waste continues to be favorable, Mr. Roberts said.

"At this point, it's not something we're considering or something we've analyzed from a financial standpoint," he said. "We have the luxury of time."

The landfill is prohibited from burying more than 235,000 tons of hazardous waste in any given year, he said.