EPA investigating whether chemicals or flames are at work inside Countywide landfill
The Canton Repository
PIKE TWP - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is trying to figure out if an underground fire is burning at Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility.
There’s no question that heat is being generated beneath the landfill surface. It’s just a matter of what’s causing it, said Mike Settles, an EPA spokesman.
EPA officials have blamed the heat on a reaction caused by buried aluminum waste. However, Larry R. Davis, a pilot from Kent, said he suspects that thermal infrared images detect a fire at the landfill on Gracemont Avenue SW.
Davis, owner of the Portage County-based Davis Aviation, said he recorded the aerial images in August and Dec. 29. During that span, the images indicate what he believes may be a fire that has grown roughly 12 times in size, he said.
“I recorded the imagery and I’m going, ‘Holy mackerel, this thing has spread,’ ” said Davis, who has done infrared work on other landfills in Ohio and other states.
“No one has said there’s a fire, and I’ve only flown over it,” said Davis. “I’m saying it looks like a fire.”
“Something is producing tremendous amounts of heat, and whatever it is, is spreading.”
Davis, a Marine and attack helicopter pilot for about six years, said he’s conducted thermal infrared imaging work for the government and also has produced images to assist park systems with deer counts. “My interest is environmental No. 1,” Davis said, “but I’m also interested in making a living.”
Davis said he unsuccessfully tried to sell the information to Countywide; he provided August images of the hot spot “as a sort of public service” to the EPA, but the agency is also trying to get the December images.
In a news release late Wednesday afternoon, Tim Vandersall, the landfill’s general manager, said, “To assume there is a fire, based upon infrared technology and the footage presented, would be negligent and any additional conjecture as to the impact on the liner system, groundwater supplies and air quality is irresponsible.”
‘NO EVIDENCE’
Ohio EPA inspectors have not found evidence of a fire, Settles said. No smoke was seen when monitoring wells were drilled to extract gas and investigate odor problems, he said.
“We’ve seen no evidence of (gas) well casings melting or the integrity of the wells coming into question,” Settles said.
Vandersall agrees.
“After many months of monitoring temperature, landfill gas composition and the visual inspection of decomposing waste, the overwhelming evidence is that there is no fire at Countywide,” Vandersall said in the news release.
In the last year, nearly 100 boreholes have been drilled into the area of concern, but soot, smoke, ash or flames have not been observed, Vandersall said.
Nearby residents have complained about a stench for about a year, Settles said. The EPA believes the odor and heat are related to the decomposition of the buried aluminum, Settles said.
EPA officials had decided to focus on the odor problem. However, the agency had discussed the possibility of a fire months ago and had considered using a pilot to take photos at one point, Settles said. The agency took more interest in the fire theory after Davis contacted it earlier this month, Settles said.
Todd Thalhamer, an expert in landfill fires from California, is being hired to investigate the situation, Settles said. Thalhamer, of the California Integrated Waste Management Board, is expected to arrive in Stark County and begin his work within the next few weeks, Settles said.
“What that pilot told us alarmed us, so we’re redoubling our efforts to determine what’s causing the heat in the landfill,” Settles said.
“I think we’ve got to get the experts in here to come up with a consensus on what the situation is ... to bring some sort of peace of mind to the community.”
Said Vandersall, “They’re welcome to do whatever they want, but I don’t think it’s necessary at this point.”
ALUMINUM
Countywide used to accept aluminum waste — a soil-like byproduct of an aluminum foundry. In November, the state EPA issued an advisory telling landfill operators to avoid exposing aluminum production waste to water because it can react and release toxic, flammable and potentially explosive gases. The move was triggered by the Countywide issue.
In the advisory, the EPA said that Countywide had experienced operational problems, including the odors, high internal landfill gas pressures, high internal landfill temperatures and unusual subsidence attributed to reactions occurring in the landfill caused by the disposal of aluminum production waste.
LANDFILL LICENSE
The EPA has said the odor at Countywide is unacceptable and must be resolved. At the landfill’s expense, a plastic cap has been installed over 30 acres of the landfill, and about 180 gas monitoring wells have been added. In about three weeks, the agency’s new director is expected to recommend whether the Stark County Board of Health should suspend or renew Countywide’s operating license.
No toxic air contaminants have been found outside the landfill, said Jim Adams, director of administration at the Canton Health Department, which tests the air quality at Countywide.
Area residents continue to report smelling the odors, but Vandersall said the odor has been reduced, the result of the gas-extraction system and flares that burn off odor-causing gases.
