Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
9/26/2014
A smoldering fire at the West Lake landfill may not be moving toward the radioactively contaminated portion of the site, contrary to previous studies, says a new report released last week by Bridgeton Landfill, the operator of the site. Earlier this month, Todd Thalhamer, a consultant for the state of Missouri, suggested that temperature spikes in monitoring probes and gas interceptor wells spread throughout the South Quarry, the location of the smoldering fire, indicated it may be spreading to the ‘neck’ area that connects to the West Lake portion of the site. In response, the site operator brought in a consultant service, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC), to provide analysis on the spreading fire. CEC concluded that the fire is spreading away from the ‘neck’ area, not toward it.
According to the CEC report, the Sub-Surface Smoldering Event (SSE) is confined to the South Quarry. The report also says that the active SSE is not expanding in size, but it is moving to the south; and that while temperatures in the neck area are warming slowly, this is not an indication that the SSE is moving into the neck area, let alone through the neck area. The report adds, “While some gas extraction wells (GEWs) in the vicinity of the Gas Interceptor Wells (GIWs) have indicated higher carbon monoxide (CO) levels and temperatures, CEC believes that this is due to transient conditions and/or improvements in gas collection efficiency as well as conduction and convection of heat.”
Site Says Fire Under Control
For the site operator, these findings discredit the previous report of a spreading fire. In a letter to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources on Sept. 16, the site assured the state that the fire is under control. “Bridgeton Landfill does not believe that the SSE is moving into and through the neck area, nor does the data support this conclusion, as shown in the enclosed CEC evaluation,” Bridgeton Landfill Environmental Manager Brian Power said. “Mr. Thalhamer’s unsupported “concern” unfairly attacks Bridgeton landfill for its efforts at being proactive and innovative in its ongoing management of the SSE.”
EPA Still Wants Additional Data
The Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, still wants to take a closer look at the SSE to better determine the extent of the fire. “Analysis of the smoldering event by the responsible parties and Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ experts sometimes provides different perspectives of its movement and location,” EPA spokesman Ben Washburn said. “EPA routinely communicates and coordinates with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources about the smoldering event, and we agree with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and others that additional data is needed to evaluate the extent of the smoldering event. EPA has also enlisted the expertise of our Office of Research and Development (ORD) in evaluating the data associated with smoldering event. The existing body of data indicates that the smoldering event remains distant from any known radiologically-impacted material.”
The West Lake Landfill cleanup project has taken on an added sense of urgency after recent reports revealed that the site contains more radioactive waste closer to a nearby smoldering fire than previously thought. Currently, the West Lake Landfill is under the supervision of the EPA’s Superfund program, which took over responsibility for the site in 1990. The EPA is conducting an engineering survey and groundwater analysis of the site to determine the best location to construct an isolation barrier to prevent the spread of the fire located near the radioactive part of the landfill. The EPA has also brought in the Army Corps of Engineers to assist on the project by providing technical review and oversight of the site owner’s cleanup plans and activities at the site, after public outcry called for a more experienced approach to the cleanup. In a recent analysis of the project, the Corps estimated that the construction of an isolation barrier to separate the fire from the contamination would not start for at least 18 months.
