43
Annual public tour draws crowds to Poland Twp. landfill
POLAND
After dragging their garbage cans to the curb, many Mahoning Valley residents know their trash will be taken to a landfill and don’t think much more of it.
But once a year, the public gets the chance to take a behind-the-scenes look at one destination for trash: the Carbon Limestone Landfill in Poland Township.
The Republic Services-operated landfill off State Line Road drew a crowd Friday for its annual public open house, a program that began about eight years ago, said Mike Heher, landfill manager.
The tours have gained popularity: Instead of one shuttle bus, two were used to carry visitors over the landfill’s 2,200 acres.
Alice Smith lives on nearby Stymie Road and has attended the open house five times.
“It’s interesting each year because there’s new things happening all the time. We like to know what’s going on,” she said.
The landfill opened in 1963 and has 80 years of life left, perhaps closer to 100 years, without any need to expand, Heher told a filled bus.
“Back in 1971, we had open dumps. Now we’re working at sophisticated engineering projects,” said Heher, who worked for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in the 1970s.
Each day the landfill receives about 4,000 tons of waste, though Heher said the volume is reduced by about 2 percent annually because of recycling. A Geiger counter near the entrance detects any radiation in the truck’s cargo. A recent item to activate the Geiger counter was a diaper from a patient who had been treated with isotopic iodine, Heher said.
The landfill has close to 300 gas wells that use negative pressure to collect methane that’s released from garbage breaking down in the lined landfill. Trash usually starts to produce methane about two years after entering the landfill, Heher said.
“That’s what you would smell if you would smell anything. We make sure there’s no odor and collect it underground,” he said.
Residents who live near the landfill and were on Friday’s tour said there is hardly ever a smell.
After collection, the methane is sent via pipe to an 18-engine power plant owned by an Australian company where it generates enough electricity to power 18,000 homes a day and eventually is obtained by American Municipal Power, Heher said.
Each year, about 10 percent of the wells require maintenance as garbage settles, moves and crushes parts of the well.
Visitors viewed various sections of the landfill. The first, Phase 1, was used from 1963 to 1992 and Phase 2 was used from 1992 to 2011, and those on the tour saw the installation of the plastic cap system. The landfill is now using Phase 3 land.
“You put a cap on it because you don’t want rain water to get in there. You want to reduce the leaching,” he said.
The landfill uses an elaborate lining system that includes clay and 40- and 60-mil liners — a regular household garbage bag is 1.8 mils.
The landfill is not allowed to take any liquid waste but does have a process to solidify liquids.
“We don’t accept brine water, but we do accept waste from fracking. We’ve taken Coca-Cola from New Hampshire and one time, we took whiskey,” Heher said.
About $20,000 is spent each month on groundwater monitoring. Also, the landfill is a preserve — home to wildlife such as foxes, coyotes and owls. A local farmer even keeps bees on the property.
“We’ve delayed cutting the grass until August because of nesting ground birds, like bobolinks, at the request of the Audubon Society,” Heher said.
During the tour, a visitor asked if the landfill had leased its mineral rights and Heher confirmed that the company signed a “well-detailed” contract will Hilcorp Energy Co. No gas wells will be located on the landfill’s property, he said.
Bob Walkam, who was “born and raised” in Poland Township, took his first visit to the landfill Friday.
“They have a lot of projects in and around Poland, and they’ve been a pretty good neighbor,” he said.
Poland Township is one of several government entities that receives monetary benefits from the landfill.
In addition to state and county fees, local public-private partnerships and donations, Republic pays $25,000 to $30,000 a month and an annual $60,000 host fee to Poland Township, and $15,000 each to the Western Reserve Joint Fire District, Mahoning Township for use of the roads and Poland Township police and road departments.