SUFFOLK – SPSA has outlined steps it will take to clear the air around its landfill in Suffolk.
The agency says it will hire SCS Engineers of Norfolk to conduct an in-depth air quality study to identify the sources of the odors. The study will include collecting landfill source-to-air samples for analysis and samples from areas around the landfill. It will also look at air movement around the site.
SCS will prepare a report to present at the board in April or May, officials stated.
In the meantime, a permanent gas collection system similar to the one in and around Cells I-V will also be installed around Cell VI.
Suffolk citizens who notice an objectionable odor near their homes are asked to contact SPSA at (757) 417-5251 to report the date, time and location where the smell is observed.
The state has issued its report on odors from SPSA's Suffolk landfill and has issued a warning letter ordering SPSA to submit an odor control plan.
The Department of Environmental Quality issued a warning letter ordering the agency to submit an odor control plan. DEQ says the landfill is the primary source of a bad smell that's lingered over several neighborhoods.
During a meeting in February, residents, state officials and SPSA shared results of the investigation that began towards the end of last year amidst reports of overwhelming odors in the areas of Wilroy Road, Nansemond Parkway and Route 58.
"Based on our site investigations and talking to numerous complainants, we do feel that the predominant cause, not necessarily the only cause, for the smell is from the SPSA landfill," Maria Nold with the Tidewater Regional Office of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) told WVEC.com.
DEQ believes excessive amounts of moisture which rain and other forms of precipitation began delivering in the fall accelerated the decomposition process, releasing large amounts of noxious gas into the air.
Air Inspector Dave Sellers, who was at that meeting Thursday, says DEQ sent a letter of warning to SPSA. The agency's primary recommendation is that the company install a well system ahead of schedule beneath Cell VI. That's the part of the landfill in which solid waste currently is dumped. The system is designed to pull gases down and into the ground. They eventually are burned off. Typically, landfills begin putting that type of system into place shortly before a cell is to be capped. Doing it now puts SPSA years ahead of when it normally would be required to do it.
Executive Director Bucky Taylor said the company actually started the process awhile back in the event that SPSA was the source of the odor.
"That, we went ahead and did ourselves," explains Taylor, "to make sure that we, whatever we do, we do something that would be positive for the neighborhood."
DEQ says it's possible the same accelerated decay could be taking place in the low-lying, swampy areas around the landfill which, in fact, borders the Great Dismal Swamp.
"I don't think it's safe for our kids," says Mia Harrod, who lives in Woodlake. "My whole family is sick right now with sinus issues, pretty much my son, my daughter, me. The neighbors are all complaining about sinus problems, runny noses constantly, coughing, sinus infections."
Several people at the meeting expressed the same concerns, some more outwardly than others. Sellers acknowledges the gases can act as irritants, but DEQ does not believe there is any long-term harm posed by them.
"I would hope that if they can begin pulling on the gases that are inside that open face," says Sellers, referring to Cell VI, if they get these pipes installed, get them hooked to their existing collection system, begin to pull that methane down and capture that, that I would hope there would be results right away from that."
Taylor said he expects that system will be running by next week. SPSA, state, and local groups will keep track of conditions.
