DEP OKs air quality plan for Rostraver landfill leachate system
The state has approved a Rostraver landfill owner’s plan to treat and evaporate the runoff flowing from the garbage dump, three months after fining the operator for how it was handling the leachate.
The state Department of Environmental Protection in Pittsburgh said it recently approved the air quality plan submitted by Noble Environmental of Pittsburgh, owner of Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill on Tyrol Boulevard.
In approving the air quality plan, the state sets the limits for the emission of pollutants and requirements for monitoring the leachate treatment system.
The DEP said it still is reviewing an application to modify the landfill’s waste permit that would, if approved, allow the company use of a natural gas-fired evaporator system.
The evaporator and treatment system would make it unnecessary for the landfill to transport the leachate produced by the waste and from stormwater, to a treatment facility. The onsite leachate system eliminates the possibility of spills from transporting the fluid in a truck.
DEP Regional Director Jim Miller said the authorization meets or exceeds air quality regulations and contains conditions to protect the public health and environment. Radiation monitors are to be installed at six sites and it will be a continuous measurement for any radiation, according to the DEP.
The landfill has been the target of numerous complaints from nearby residents about the odor from the operations. Several residents opposed sanitary landfill’s plans when the state held a public hearing on the matter at the Rostraver Central Fire Hall in September 2022.
The state fined Noble Environmental more than $62,400 last year for violating the Solid Waste Management Act and Clean Streams Law. It said the company was in violation for allowing on-site and off-site tracks of mud and dirt, inadequate stormwater controls, off-site odors, uncovered or insufficiently covered slopes and issues with the secondary containment of the leachate storage area.
Noble Environmental also was fined $24,000 in 2020 and $25,000 in 2021 for violations at the landfill.
Information about the project was not available from Ro Rozier, a spokeswoman for Noble Environmental.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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