Landfill gears up for final inspection before shut down

The Monroe County Solid Waste Management District has worked since 2004 to close the only landfill in the county, and this month it finished the required procedures.

“It’s not like you turn a key and walk away. The maintenance goes on for a lifetime,” said Larry Barker, executive director of the waste district.

The district can apply for official certification of closure from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management once vegetation has been established. After certification, the waste district must monitor methane and groundwater levels for the landfill for the next 30 years.

The construction firm Crider & Crider, Inc., under the waste district, has worked to cover areas with three feet of soil and vegetation and reconstruct slopes to stop erosion and prepare for the closure by IDEM.

While waiting for the grass to grow doesn’t sound like a difficult task, there have been a few challenges in preparing the landfill for a final closure, said Tom McGlasson, landfill director and safety and compliance director for the waste district.

He said IDEM, which sent out inspectors twice a month for recommendations, found 32 complaints in the past four years, such as slopes steeper than 33 percent.

Barry Sneed, a public information officer from IDEM, said the goal of standard closure procedures are “to ensure protection of the environment.” He said every landfill applying for closure in the state must have a leachate treatment plant and a fence or access control to limit entry to property, and limitations must be specified in the property deed. Once those steps are taken, IDEM will complete an inspection and grant the closure certification.

At the landfill facility at 7740 N. Fish Road, northwest of Bloomington, there are three major grass-covered hills of waste visible from the roadside. On one hill, there are numerous pipes to release the methane gas, which can be collected and used as a source of energy. However, the Monroe County Landfill did not produce enough to be cost effective, McGlasson said.

Crews have recently finished laying straw on the last hill to prevent erosion during the winter. McGlasson said the waste district obtained a permit to use solid waste from the waste water treatment plant as fertilizer.

At the base of the hills, a large holding pond collects leachate, or runoff from inside the landfill. The leachate is then transferred to a treatment station on site. McGlasson said last year 6 million gallons of leachate were collected and this year’s total would be larger due to the increased rainfall.

McGlasson predicted that crews will have to go back and touch up areas after the winter, and he said by this summer the county will likely apply for final closure from IDEM.

The decision to close the landfill came after it caught on fire January 2004, forcing it to shut down, which caused the county to lose money.

“Loss of revenue is what sealed the deal,” McGlasson said. “This wasn’t a money maker for the county.”

The Bloomington Township Fire Department was called to the scene of “tires on fire” at the Monroe County Landfill in January 2004, according to the Monroe County Emergency Management “Year in Review 2004” report. The report explained tires are shredded and used as a base for other mounds of trash and said the area was a 100-by-200 foot “lake of fire.”

While the waste district is currently under a contract with Hoosier Disposal to send waste to the Sycamore Ridge Landfill in Terre Haute, both McGlasson and Barker don’t foresee another landfill being operated by the Monroe County Waste District.

“It has made us much more aware of waste,” said Barker. “The district is on a path of renewed vigor of reducing trash.”