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A continuing problem with foul odors coming from the King George County Landfill drew the attention of county supervisors and administrators.
And now that they've focused there, supervisors say they want to see more done to resolve related landfill problems.
During a work session last night, King George supervisors asked for more regular and detailed updates from Jason Pauley, the county's director of solid waste and recycling.
Previous reports have been minimal, board Chairman Joseph Grzeika said in an interview, "through no fault of anybody's. The past board has not made an issue of it."
Grzeika said he wants to ensure the county is wisely spending the $150,000 it receives for inspections from Waste Management Inc., the national company that operates the landfill.
He questioned Pauley about about the frequency of inspections of trucks dumping at the regional landfill, which accepted 1.2 million tons of waste in 2003.
Pauley told Grzeika that typically one load per day is randomly inspected, with employees also conducting frequent odor inspections. Environmental monitoring and erosion monitoring is conducted monthly, he said.
Medical waste, which is prohibited from being dumped, has been found, Pauley said.
"It usually comes back to a housekeeping issue," Pauley said. "It hardly happens anymore."
"So it happens, we just don't hear about it?" asked Supervisor Cedell Brooks Jr.
"It's very rare," Pauley replied.
Asked in an interview how recently medical waste was found, Pauley said he was not certain.
"Red bags I'm sure have been found," he said. "It's a very random thing."
Supervisors also questioned what's being done to clean stray trash from the landfill.
County Administrator Dennis Kerns recently made an unannounced visit to the landfill and said he found the entrance "didn't look very tidy."
By contract, Waste Management is required to sweep along State Route 665 daily.
Grzeika also criticized the buildup of garbage along State Route 3. "It is an eyesore," he said, "and we need to work on it."
Dean Lyle, new district manager for Waste Management, said steps have already been taken to remedy the problem. A crew picked up along Route 3 last week, he said.
In an interview after the meeting, Lyle said Waste Management would "try to step up inspections of trucks exiting" to make sure all of the trash has been removed from them or that tarps cover leftover debris.
Supervisors gave a nod to begin planning two public parks that Waste Management is required to construct. One will be near the county's old landfill, the other to be near the new Sealston Elementary.
They also gave a positive review of a waste drop-off center that could be located in Dahlgren, but asked for more information about its cost before moving forward.
That would be the first of three drop-off sites called for in the county's contract with Waste Management. They haven't been built because the county is first required to provide the land.
With a contract that was signed in 1993, Kerns said it's now time to develop the parks and drop-off sites.
"We need to move forward," he said, "and get some of these things under way."
Included in supervisors' plans is an independent review of the odor coming from the landfill. Capacity to capture the odoriferous gas was increased earlier this month, and Pauley previously said the odor should be cleared up by the end of this month.
Some residents have said the smell has improved. Others have said they've seen no change.
Last night at 8, the pungent odor could be smelled wafting across Route 3 near the Stafford-King George county line.
To reach ROB DAVIS: 540/374-5418 rdavis@freelancestar.com