EPA reaches agreement over Waimanalo Gulch Landfill fire threat: $1.1 million penalty for Clean Air Act violations

News Release from EPA February 28, 2013

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today a settlement with Waste Management of Hawaii, Inc. and the City and County of Honolulu over violations of air pollution laws at the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Kapolei, Oahu.

Waste Management, operator of the landfill, and the City, owner of the landfill, are being required to implement enhanced gas monitoring to reduce the threat of underground fires at the landfill, follow fire response procedures in the event of a fire, and pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million. Waste Management estimates it has already spent about $1.5 million to design and construct a gas collection/control system required by federal law.

“Our settlement helps reduce the risk of fire at the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill, where gases reach temperatures that are among the highest for any landfill in the nation," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “By bringing it into compliance with the Clean Air Act, we are protecting the community and the environment from exposure to toxic landfill gas.”

The settlement resolves allegations that Waste Management and the City failed to design, construct and operate a gas collection/control system, submit notifications regarding failures to complete construction milestones, prepare a startup, shutdown and malfunction plan, and to operate controls within the gas temperature limit. In addition, gas generated by decomposing refuse, such as air toxics, organic compounds, and methane - a potent greenhouse gas - was emitted from the landfill for approximately three years from 2002 to 2005.

Federal law requires large landfills to install and operate systems to collect gases generated by decomposing refuse. Effective gas controls at a landfill reduces the release of these gases, preventing them from escaping into the atmosphere. The federal default limit for gas temperatures in landfills is 131 F, in contrast to the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill system which has recorded temperatures as high as 188 F.  Poorly controlled landfill gas, especially if it is excessively hot, may result in an underground fire.

Although there is no underground combustion at the facility currently, the settlement requires the company to comply with new safe interim gas temperature limits that are higher than the default limit, perform additional special gas monitoring, and insure that all monitoring data meets the requirements of a specified data quality plan.  After the interim limits expire in 2016, Waste Management may use the monitoring data to support a request for permanent temperature limits that are higher than the default limit.

The Waimanalo Gulch Landfill was also the subject of EPA enforcement orders under the Clean Water Act, after heavy rains in January 2011 flooded a section of the landfill, causing waste to be released that resulted in beach contamination and closures. EPA’s compliance orders to Waste Management required an immediate cleanup, measures to stabilize the structure after the flooding, and stormwater control projects at the landfill.
The Clean Air Act consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval and may be viewed at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

For more information about CAA landfill regulations, please visit the EPA’s web site at:http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/landfill/landflpg.html#IMP

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EPA Sues Over Waimanlo Gulch, City ‘Will Not Pay’

SA Feb 28, 2013: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is suing the city and Waste Management of Hawaii Inc., the operator of the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in Leeward Oahu, over gas emissions.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, claims the city and the operator failed to install a gas collection and control system at the landfill when they were supposed to, and that the system that was installed in 2005 failed to comply with national standards.

The EPA is asking the court to order the defendants to comply with federal clean-air laws and regulations and to impose civil penalties until they do. Maximum penalties are $27,500 per day for each violation that occurred on or before March 15, 2004, $32,500 per day for each violation through January 2009, and $37,500 per day for each violation after that.

City Environmental Services Director Lori Kahikina said the city and Waste Management of Hawaii have already addressed the issues raised by the EPA under the terms of a consent decree.

"The alleged violations resolved by this consent decree were operational deficiencies for which Waste Management of Hawaii Inc. has taken full responsibility," Kahikina said in a written statement. "The company, which replaced its leadership team at the facility after the discovery of the alleged violations, will be solely responsible for paying the $1.1 million required by the consent decree."

She said, "The city will not pay any part of this penalty."

read … Will Not Pay