Monroe County Landfill in Trouble Before Fire

State environmental officials had reported finding several violations at the Monroe County landfill before a fire erupted there this month, even raising the possibility of not renewing its license.
Heat generated by decomposing trash was the suspected cause of the fire that began Jan. 9 and continued smoldering Monday, said landfill director Tobias Schroeder.
Most of the fire has been extinguished, but test wells were being drilled to determine the severity of the remaining fire, he said.
“So far the indications are that the underground smoldering is very localized,” Schroeder said. “We’re guessing that another four or five days we’ll have the fire completely extinguished.”
Crews were working this week to repair the landfill’s liner, which is intended to prevent waste from contaminating groundwater, so Monroe County officials could seek permission from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to reopen the landfill, he said.
Even before the fire, the landfill had come under criticism from IDEM inspectors.
A letter from the agency this month to landfill officials cited several concerns with the facility’s operation, including the control and collection of arsenic and other runoff from the landfill.
“I am very concerned with the pending renewal of the permit for this site, as continuing significant violations (are) always a factor in the review of renewals,” wrote Bruce Palin of IDEM’s Office of Land Quality.
Schroeder, who has been on the job only a few months, said the landfill’s problems go back many years and that many corrections were overdue.
“I wouldn’t try to make an excuse for it,” he said. “It’s been too long.”
Schroeder said a landfill consultant suspects the fire was caused by a combination of the buried trash igniting and being sustained by higher oxygen levels.
Schroeder said the consultant explained to landfill personnel that in extreme cold, the exchange of oxygen increases through a landfill’s layers between the frigid air at the surface and the heat generated by decomposing trash.
“Actually, most landfill fires are in winter,” Schroeder said. – Associated Press. To read part 1 of this news story, go to https://www.geosynthetica.net/news.asp?search_key2=n414, and for part 2, go to https://www.geosynthetica.net/news.asp?search_key2=n418.