When a Landfill is not a Landfill
To officials at the Adams County (CO) Department of Public Works the 60-acre spread officially is an "overlot grading site''--a pit being filled for a future warehouse park. The designation remains despite objections from a state landfill inspector and the county's planning department.
According to county records, officials in the county public works department chose to ignore the planning department's assessment in 1997 when it approved an application by the operator to receive demolition debris at the site without a landfill permit.
The property once was a gravel mine. It served as a landfill in the 1970s when landfill laws were nary to be found. The present operator bought the property a few years ago.
The site's operator first received permission to fill the site from the Public Works Department under the "overlot-grading permit'' in 1995. Such permits are inexpensive and involve little environmental mitigation. The operator began filling the site with coal ash. In April 1997, he approached county officials about adding construction and demolition debris. Records show he wanted no responsibility for groundwater monitoring-a likely requirement under a landfill permit.
Construction and demolition debris is considered less dangerous than household waste but more problematic than "clean fill,'' like dirt or broken-up concrete. The reason is that demolition debris can contain material like wood, which can rot; drywall, which can generate suspect gases; and lead-based paint.
The state's landfill regulator inspected the site on May 1 and found household trash, which can contain toxins and pollutants and are supposed to go into fully lined landfills. The regulator said, moreover, that he saw no one for screening out hazardous wastes. He said the site should have a liner and a landfill permit.
The permit, which costs U.S.$10,000, usually entails planning and construction costs than can range from $100,000 to more than $1 million, including the cost of groundwater monitoring wells. However, enforcement in Colorado is generally left to the counties.
In addition, with a landfill permit, the operator would have to pay tipping fees to the county and the state. The state's fee is 30 cents per cubic yard. The county takes 6.5% of the money a landfill receives for accepting the waste.
The site's operator dismisses any suggestion that his political contributions helped avoid the landfill permit. He says the site does not need a permit because his dumping operation is sufficiently above groundwater to keep leachate from reaching it.
The previous article was adapted from a report by Mike Soraghan appearing in the July 19 issue of The Denver Post