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Push for progress on landfill issues

King George administrator wants progress made on landfill issues.

By ROB DAVIS

Date published: 1/27/2004

A thick contract between Waste Management and King George County outlines the minutiae of operations at the King George Landfill.

It spells out what trash can and can't be accepted, how trash is screened, what reports must be filed.

And in its more than 200 pages are several requirements King George has not properly managed, County Administrator Dennis Kerns said.

For example, the contract signed in 1993 calls for five convenience centers to be constructed in the county. Waste Management is required to spend $375,000 to build a public park in the county.

But the park and three of the five trash drop-off sites haven't been built, because the county is first required to provide the land.

The county is to blame, not Waste Management, Kerns said.

It's a "lack of management on our part," Kerns said. "I see no indication where anyone's ever brought it up. So I'm getting proactive."

At least three attempts have been made to develop drop-off sites, said Jason Pauley, the county's director of solid waste and recycling. Each fell through.

The cost of land sunk one, Pauley said, and residents' protests stopped another.

"The previous county administrators haven't wanted to take the issue forward," said Pauley, who's in charge of managing the contract.

Pauley said yesterday that he had not yet spoken to Kerns about the subject.

Kerns plans to brief supervisors on the contract at the board's scheduled meeting tonight. He will also seek approval for a drop-off site in Dahlgren--the first of the three outstanding sites.

Kerns also wants the board to approve hiring an independent contractor to analyze the continuing problem with foul odors emanating from the 630-acre landfill. He said he wants to make sure Waste Management is doing everything it can to alleviate the smell.

The company has increased capacity for collecting gases and odor created by decomposing waste. The most recent improvements came on line in early January.

But some area residents said the smell hasn't gotten any better. "Not at all," said Andrew Wright, who lives within 11/2 miles of the landfill. "I'm just absolutely amazed the odor is what it is."

"It's pretty nauseous," said Christeen Henderson, who also lives nearby.

Said Kerns, "It's time something's done."

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Date published: 1/27/2004