Friday, August 29, 2008

The saga continues: more violations at landfill

The DEP has slapped New Ventures with a noncompliance notice relating to the preliminary injunction entered into in October 2006.

DEP cites 13 violations of the preliminary injunction in an Aug. 26 letter to Richard "Chip" Nylen. This is the full text of the letter:

Personnel of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Waste Prevention, Solid Waste Section (the “MassDEP”) conducted seven (7) inspections of the Crow Lane Landfill (the “Landfill”) in Newburyport, Massachusetts between June 3, 2008 and August 18, 2008. In addition, MassDEP has reviewed the Daily Collection System Monitoring Forms submitted from July 8, 2008 to August 22, 2008 by your client, New Ventures Associates, LLC (“New Ventures”) and seven (7) reports of odor complaints submitted to New Ventures between July 14, 2008 and August 13, 2008 by residents in the vicinity of the Landfill.

As a result, MassDEP has determined New Ventures is in noncompliance with the preliminary injunction entered on October 20, 2006 in Suffolk Superior Court, Civil Action No. 06-0790 C, as amended and/or supplemented by orders of the Court on November 1, 2006, February 22, 2007 and September 20, 2007 (the “Order”) as follows. New Ventures has previously been advised by the Attorney General’s Office and the City of Newburyport of some or all of these violations.

1. The maximum concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas into the enclosed landfill gas flare exceeded the performance standard of 1.01 lbs/hr (ponds per hour) twice during a twenty-four (24) hour period on at least fifteen (15) days between July 8, 2008 and July 28, 2008. In addition on these dates New Ventures failed to resume the collection of landfill gas samples at a rate of six times per days for five days.

2. Since July 28, 2008, New Ventures has failed to provide MassDEP with the daily landfill gas sampling data for the concentration of H2S gas into the inlets of the pre-treatment system (H2S removal system) and the enclosed landfill gas flare in the Daily Collection System Monitoring Forms.

3. The H2S pretreatment system (H2S removal system) was not operating within the 95% H2S removal efficiency and the concentration of H2S gas into the enclosed flare exceeded the maximum allowed concentration of H2S of 1.01 lbs/hr twice during a twenty-four (24) hour period, as measured by MassDEP personnel on August 17 and 18, 2008 and summarized in the following table.
[There's a table here that did not copy over well.]

4. New Ventures failed to maintain the leachate levels in the leachate collection tanks at less than 75% of the tanks capacities and/or to remove leachate from abutting wetlands, as observed by MassDEP personnel on July 17 and 29, 2008 and August 18, 2008.

5. New Ventures failed to place and maintain tarps over the south slope of the Phase I Area adjacent to the Landfill haul road and to place a minimum of 1 foot of clay and tarps over the Phase IA Areas, as observed by MassDEP personnel on June 3, 4, and 26, 2008; July 17, and 29, 2008; and August 17, and 18, 2008.

6. New Ventures failed to repair erosion of the western side of the perimeter berm including the northern down chute, as observed by MassDEP personnel on June 3, and 26, 2008; July 17, and 29, 2008; and August 18, 2008.

7. New Ventures failed to respond to and to report to the MassDEP odor complaints received by New Ventures from residents in the vicinity of the Landfill on July 14, and 17, 2008; and August 7, 8, 11, and 13, 2008.

8. New Ventures has failed to repair and maintain the enclosed flare including the repair of the digital flow meter since the power outage of June 27, 2008 which resulted in the digital meter no longer displaying the landfill gas flow rate into the flare.

9. New Ventures failed to staff the landfill twenty-four (24) hours per day seven (7) days per week, as observed by MassDEP personnel on June 4, 2008 and August 17 and 18, 2008.

10. New Ventures failed to maintain three (3) pre-treatment vessels at the Landfill, as observed by MassDEP personnel on June 3, 4, and 26, 2008; July 17, and 29, 2008; and August 17, and 18, 2008.

11. New Ventures failed to operate the enclosed flare twenty-four (24) hours per day seven (7) days per week, as observed by MassDEP personnel on June 4, 2008 and July 17 and 29, 2008.

12. The Engineer of Record has failed to submit the weekly inspection reports for the landfill since on or about March 3, 2008.

13. New Ventures has failed to continuously collect wind speed and direction, barometric pressure and temperature from the meteorological station at the Landfill since June 27, 2008.

New Ventures shall take such actions as are necessary to return to compliance with the Order.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You would be very interested to know that we here in Everett have been trying to get an open public hearing on Wood Waste and Everett's Mayor Carlo DeMaria has been procrastinating. Tonight he had to answer to the common council yet again and while he makes up all sorts of excuses for William Thibeault he was actually getting angry and said our situation here is in the hands of the AG and Newburyport. He claims Newburyport for one hundred years had the landfill and Newburyport dumped catch basins and chemicals in it and now Mr. Thibeault has it for one year, and you are blaming him and he is blaming you. Mayor DeMaria made mention that he spoke with his City Solicitor and he is ready to take out a class action suit against Newburyport the AG and Wood Waste of Boston. We know that taking out a class action suit against William Thibeault means nothing. In the same breath, he was trying to tell the people of Everett how Mr. Thibeault wants to be a good cooperate neighbor and clean up out islands that are DCR Property. Never one mention of Mr. Thibeault's plan he had back in June to truck his waste to Ohio and Michigan that he never kept his word on. People still cant breath near Wood Waste, the trash piles are still outside, uncovered and stink. A lady across the highway hung her sheets out to dry and she had to rewash them because she could smell the chemicals from Wood Waste. He was supposed to enclose this facility thirteen years ago. Shame on the DEP and the AG for letting this go on for so long and do nothing about peoples sufferings. Thought you might find that a little interesting.