MORETOWN, Vt. -
Vermont has only two landfills and tonight the clock is ticking for one of them. The owners of the Moretown facility are only 5 weeks from finding out if they'll be forced to close down for good.
"Basically yes we got to fix it regardless of what happens. State's right about that," New Moretown Landfill General Manager Mike DiMaggio said.
DiMaggio has been GM Moretown Landfill since the beginning of January as part of Advanced Disposal's plan to fix the landfill after they took it over from Interstate Waste Service.
He says to solve the odor issue they're fixing wells designed to suck in and burn methane.
"By doing that you eliminate the odors coming from the landfill," DiMaggio said.
And the landfill has stopped taking sludge from out of state sources.
"Who's gonna bring sludge from a long ways a way unless no body else wants it and that's basically what happened," DiMaggio said.
Along with installing new cell caps DiMaggio estimates Advanced Disposal's cost will eventually run $1.4 million.
But regardless the amount of money Advanced Disposal has spent fixing the odor problem at Moretown Landfill the Agency of Natural Resources says that work would have to be done anyway's whether the landfill stays open or closes.
"Just to close it up and let it sit here we can't do that. it's gotta be fixed if you're emitting odors and what not," DiMaggio said.
Hundreds of complaints have been filed about the landfill's odor problem but DiMaggio is asking neighbors to give him a shot to pass "the smell test"
"They've been burnt too many times that's all they ask is they give me a chance and if they give me a chance they will fix the problem."
