MORETOWN, Vt. -
The Agency of Natural Resources decided to deny the Moretown Landfill permission to continue operations, effectively forcing the closure of the landfill.
The decision to deny was based on two main factors according to the Agency of Natural: Resources.
1. The operator's failure to control odor and landfill gas emissions at the facility.
2. The facility's contribution to violations of groundwater quality standards.
"They've had persistent odor problems over the past 13 years that no matter what they've done they haven't been able to resolve," ANR Secretary Deb Markowitz.
ANR says the landfill has 30 days before it must begin closing procedures, which includes providing proper maintenance to control odors and other landfill issues.
Attempt To Re-certify
The Moretown Landfill, owned by Advanced Disposal Services, had been working to re-certify two of the landfill cells as well as receive permission to build a fourth one that would have grown the landfill by 20 acres as well as 80 feet higher.
But it soon became clear that the landfill would have trouble= in first gaining re-certification for cells 2 and 3 and dropped the idea of expanding and instead focused on staying in business.
Advanced Disposal submitted a proposal to curb odor issues at the landfill that included a change in management, rejecting sludge waste and new construction on some of the existing cells.
However on December 20th the ANR released a statement revealing its intent to deny the landfill re-certification and Thursday that became reality.
"It ended up not being enough," Markowitz said of the Moretown Landfill plan.
"We really appreciate their renewed effort to deal with the odor issues but really as a practical matter in light of the historical problems and in light of the plans they gave to us we didn't see how anything would be really different going forward."
Community Reacts
The landfill will always be a part of Moretown's landscape but when the facility closes up shop Some of the impact it's had on the community will disappear.
Majestic Auto Body, Inc is just more than half a mile down the road from the landfill but owner Martha Douglass says that distance doesn't make a difference.
"The odor gets into your shop or into your home and it doesn't go away for hours," Douglass said.
Douglass has been an outspoken critic of the landfill and is now elated that the state is forcing it to close.
"We won't have to experience the daily odors that have been so substantial," Douglass says.
The state has filed 359 odor complaints since August, 2011 and confirmed 256 of them.
"I can't imagine what it's like for members of our group who live right next door," Douglass said.
But at Glass Works right across the street from the landfill news of the ANR's denial hit harder.
"It'll be sad for Moretown," Glass Works employee Susan Delphia said.
Delphia says the smell has only been bad this year but accepts it. Especially since the landfill pays a larger portion of tax to the town (estimated to be 25 percent of the town's local budget) that drives everyone else's property tax down.
"That's huge for a small business in Vermont," Delphia said.
The more we have to pay out the harder it is to compete with the bigger companies."
But Douglass says one issue doesn't weigh any heavier than the other and is willing to pay higher taxes for her home and business.
"We're not looking forward to paying more taxes but sometimes the right thing costs money," Douglass said.
Landfill Not Quitting Yet
Advanced Disposal has definitely spent money in an attempt to shore up some of the landfill's deficiencies. The company took over Moretown Landfill from Interstate Waste Services (both are owned by Highstar Capital, a holding company) September 1, 2012.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Advanced Disposal's regional manager stated that since then, "our goals have been to bring the site into compliance," Dave Lavender said.
He continued "We know that we have achieved these goals and can continue them well into the future if allowed to operate. It is a disservice to the local community and to the entire State to not recognize and promote the improvements that have been made at the site."
Because of that, Moretown Landfill is expecting to appeal the ANR's decision to deny in state environmental court. No timeline has been set yet as to when that would take place.
