Safety, environmental problems found at Harford County landfill

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - An independent review released this week found a long list of safety, environmental and efficiency problems at Harford County’s rapidly filling Scarboro Landfill.

The monthlong review, conducted by the county and iMaryland Environmental Systems in response to neighbors’ complaints, drew up a laundry list of problems, punctuated by photographic evidence: safety concerns around the drop-off areas and workshops; inadequate controls on dust, litter, erosion and runoff; and inefficient use of equipment that could otherwise squeeze more life out of the landfill.

In response, the county created a 56-point plan for addressing the concerns, and will follow it as soon as possible, spokesman Robert Thomas said.

“Our concern right now is to address those 56 items, and make sure the landfill operates safely and efficiently,” Thomas said. Fixing the problems found in the report would come before moving forward with a planned expansion, he added. The report recommended the county address problems such as litter blowing through temporary trash fences surrounding the active areas. The county said it would fix the problem with additional fencing and increased “litter patrol.”

The report also said the county was not compacting trash as efficiently as possible — the county was squashing about 850 pounds of trash into every cubic yard, but the industrial standard is 1,000 to 1,200 pounds per cubic yard.

“Is it shortening the life span of the landfill? I don’t know if we can accurately assess that,” Thomas said.

Neighbors had repeatedly said that the landfill was not adequately using soil or tarps to cover the active landfill area every day, which prevents trash from being blown away, washed away or scavenged — and the reviewers agreed.

However, the report did not find anything to substantiate residents’ complaints that leachate — which they’ve dubbed “garbage juice” — had been escaping the landfill and contaminating their wells. The county effectively cleaned up any leachate escapes as they found them, Maryland Environmental Systems’ observers wrote.

“It’s never going to be great living next to a landfill, but at least we can make them better neighbors,” said County Councilman Chad Shrodes, a Republican whose district includes the area around the landfill.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com

Advertisement