Work crews continued making progress on regular maintenance activities at the Quarry Landfill this week. At the older, adjacent landfill, installation of a new closure liner has started.
Meanwhile, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) has granted the City of Bristol an extension of time to install an Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol (EVOH) geomembrane cover over the Quarry Landfill. Installation of an EVOH cover is one of the steps recommended by an expert panel convened by VDEQ to address issues at the landfill, which stopped receiving waste on September 9, 2022.
Since that time, the city and its engineers have engaged in extensive work at the landfill. This work has drastically reduced emissions, and is actively removing heat, leachate, and gas from the waste that contribute to odors. This work required altering the shape of the landfill’s surface, which results in settlement of the landfill surface above and beyond the settlement associated with natural aging of the waste. To ensure that the EVOH cover conforms to the landfill surface and functions effectively for years to come, the city requested additional time from VDEQ to measure the rate of settlement to confirm that the settlement rate is sufficiently low to be suitable for installation of an EVOH geomembrane.
Dr. Craig Benson, a member of the expert panel and the former Dean of Engineering at the University of Virginia, indicates that “ensuring landfill settlement has diminished to a slow steady rate prior to installation of the EVOH geomembrane is a best practice in the solid waste industry that will ensure that the EVOH geomembrane remains effective in preventing infiltration and release of emissions for the foreseeable future.” VDEQ has agreed to have the surface of the landfill assessed by experts using the application of specific settlement criteria to evaluate and determine the appropriate time for the EVOH cover to be installed.