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Throughout February and March of 2016,
EPA continued dialogue with VDEM to attempt to setup a meeting with Public
Safety and other salient parties (e.g.; local governments) to hear
specific concerns from their perspective. Several emails were sent to Campbell
County representatives to obtain additional information and schedule a
meeting. VDEM had indicated that
they had talked to several folks at the Virginia Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) regarding the site. DEQ has responsibility of the landfill
itself. The EPA On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) agreed,
specifically to VDEM, to do the following as needed:
- Meet, if possible with Campbell County.
- Conduct a drive by of the communities adjacent to the
landfill
- Conduct, as appropriate, air monitoring in those
communities.
- Based on those results, conduct residential sampling if
needed.
On March 29th, 2016, EPA spoke (at
another meeting) with DEQ regarding the site. DEQ had been out to (and
on) the landfill numerous times. The OSC explained the plan to do
basic air monitoring at first, and then additional efforts could be initiated
based on the results.
EPA OSC continued to contact Campbell
County to set up a meeting or call to discuss their concerns.
Despite numerous attempts, EPA was unsuccessful in getting a meeting. Subsequently, the EPA OSC made the decision to proceed without their
assistance.
During the month of April, DEQ reached
out to EPA in order to get clarification on EPA's anticipated actions.
EPA confirmed that no operations would be conducted at or on the
landfill. Only basic air monitoring, using real-time instruments would be
conducted throughout the various neighborhoods at this point. EPA was
also able to discuss specifics with several of the DEQ inspectors involved with
the landfill.
DEQ provided EPA with various reports
specifically the complaint logs. These logs included addresses of residents who have made the complaints, several have made repeated complaints. EPA used this to develop a plan as to
where air monitoring will be focused.
On May 19th, 2016, the EPA OSC and the
Superfund Technical Assistance and Response (START) contractor mobilized to the
neighborhoods and conducted air monitoring. Two air monitors
were used. The first was a MultiRAE Plus multi gas meter which can monitor
for oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds, and
lower explosive limits. The was a GEM5000 which is used to monitor
landfill gasses including methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen
sulfide. For the purposes of this assessment, the following
parameters were priorities: hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane,
volatile organic compounds, and lower explosive limit. All instruments
were properly calibrated prior to use.
Air monitoring commenced by approximately 06:45 a.m. which coincides with the typical times odors are noted by residents.
At each location, EPA and START
personnel determined if there was an odor associated with the air or not (could we smell odors that may be related to a landfill). Global positioning system coordinates
were also collected. This information was all captured in a log book and
is detailed in the trip report named "Region 2000
Landfill_Short-form_TripReport_Final.pdf."
In all, 24 locations were visited
around the entirety of the landfill property. The majority of
locations were biased near where repeated complaints were initiated.
Specifically, these locations were near addresses to the south and southwest of the
landfill. However, air monitoring was also conducted to the east, north,
and west. No private properties were entered during this
assessment. All readings were collected from the roadways.
There were 10 locations at which odors
were detected by EPA teams ranging from slight to medium. It should
be noted that while the 3 member team agreed on the "slight" and
"medium" descriptions, this is somewhat subjective in
nature. No adverse affects such as headaches or burning of eyes or
throat were experienced. All readings on the air meters were non
detect for hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane, volatile organic
compounds, and lower explosive limit.
It is not unexpected to detect
odors in close proximity to a landfill. The properly calibrated
meters did not detect any of the chemicals that may be associated with a
landfill. It should be noted that the human nose can often detect
odors at thresholds significantly lower than those that may cause harm.
The instruments are capable to detect low levels of the
chemicals of interest. They are traditionally used to ensure worker
and public safety and the data collected can be compared to a variety of
protection standards. In this case, all results were
zero.
The EPA OSC evaluated the historical information
received, the onsite residential data collected and the situation observed. There were no hazardous substances detected on any of the air monitors during the assessment. The
EPA OSC has determined that the conditions around the landfill do not require
any additional actions by the EPA removal program.
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