Between 25-30 members of the public spoke and asked questions Tuesday during a public meeting held by Green Ridge, owned by County Waste of Virginia, at Cumberland County Elementary School.

The meeting was held at 5 p.m.

Jay Smith, partner of Capital Results, was asked by Green Ridge to moderate the event. He said the public comment period was one step needed as Green Ridge begins an application process to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The meeting was video-recorded and a stenographer typed out audio from the presentation and from the public comment period.

He said comments could also be emailed to Comments@GreenRidgeVA.com, where they would also be considered along with the public comments. Smith said emails would be accepted until Sept. 4.

‘A whole gambit of items’

Lynn Klappich, program manager of waste resource engineering at Draper Aden Associates, the design company for the landfill, first gave an overview of the proposed project, which is located off Route 60 and encompasses a total of approximately 1,200 acres.

Klappich said the design requirements for the landfill include studying subsurface conditions and studying potential for settlement and seismic impact zone conditions.

She said the landfill would need a 60-mil HDPE liner system, create a leachate collection system, create a cap system of 18 inches of clay or equivalent, 40 mil VLDPE membrane, a 24-inch cover of vegetation and a gas collection system for methane gas and utilizing VPDES Stormwater Management program.

Concerning monitoring for VDEQ compliance, Klappich said groundwater would be tested on a quarterly basis and underdrain systems would be tested on a semiannual basis. Perimeter monitoring for gas would take place on a quarterly basis.

Klappich said all monitoring data would be provided to the county.

Concerning the VDEQ permit application process, Klappich said Green Ridge is on the first step, completing the notice of intent.

She said the public meeting was a component of the notice of intent, in addition to the community host agreement, approved by the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors earlier in the month, and the conditional use permit and rezoning request for the landfill.

The second step in the process, Klappich said, is the hydrogeological evaluation.

“It is meant to identify, not only the groundwater and the subsoil and the bedrock like I’ve indicated, but it also requires a landfill impact assessment, which is where we start evaluating the wetlands, the threat to endangered species, the cultural resources, tourism, recreation sites,” Klappich said. “There’s a whole gambit of items that have to be addressed to DEQ satisfaction in the regulations.”

Ken Bannister, with Draper Aden, said after the meeting he expects the drilling or boring on the land to take between 30-40 work days drilling one hole a day to assess the groundwater flow. He said the full geological analysis could take several months, and that does not include the other aspects of the study, including analyzing the land for endangered species.

The third step, technical design, she described as a Part B of step two, is when VDEQ would approve or issue a draft permit indicating that the evaluation met all of the requirements for a landfill operation.

During step four, VDEQ would issue a draft permit.

During step five, there will be a 30-day comment period where the public can comment on the project.

After the public comment period, a final permit would be issued, marking step six.

Step seven is the approval of the final site plan step eight would be the construction of the landfill, and the final step would be Green Ridge receiving a certificate to operate a landfill.

Concerning siting activities, or work that has been completed on the 1,200-acre property itself, Klappich said representatives have performed an initial site assessment for landfill viability, have purchased the land and/or put under contract a LIDAR topographic survey of 1,200-plus acres. She said LIDAR, which uses laser light, offers a high-resolution mapping of the project and will also aid in finding cultural resource items, such as the gravestones; preliminary borings for water levels and bedrock, establishment of buffers in host agreement, wetlands delineation, and field visits with United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE).

Ongoing siting activities include meetings and discussions with Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), where Klappich said in the presentation the project requirements are “substantially established” and “design is in progress” having meetings and discussions with ACOE/VDEQ water division about potential wetland presence.

“At this time, we believe our impact is under the 2-acre requirement by DEQ,” Klappich said.

‘Like sheep to the slaughter’

Members of the public raised questions and concerns about which company in question owns the landfill, Green Ridge or County Waste of Virginia; concerns about impact of the landfill on the area’s wetlands, its close proximity to dozens of homes and families and the increased risk of traffic accidents on Route 60 due to landfill trucks.

Other concerns included why board of supervisor members were not present at the meeting; the impact of the landfill on elderly and retirees; lack of advertising for public meetings; conditions on the community host agreement; concern about the meeting time and day, citing numerous residents who were leaving work at 5 p.m.; and when County Waste of Virginia and Cumberland first began discussions on the Green Ridge project.

Of the more than two dozen speakers during the public comment period, only one was in favor of the proposed project.

Speaker Hannah Scott said she received a letter from Green Ridge regarding the home assurance program. According to a copy of the property protection contract that lists the agreements the participant would need to follow, the participant would agree that “he or she shall not oppose in any way the permitting, development or construction of the Landfill so long as the Landfill is in material compliance with the Host Community Agreement and all Local, State and Federal regulations.”

“Your intentions of the quote, unquote program is to silence me, silence my freedom of speech,” Scott said. “Even a mere objection from me is not tolerable.”

Finishing, she said, “To quote George Washington, ‘if the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent, we may be led like sheep to the slaughter.’ That’s all I have to say.”

Barbara Speas asked what determined Virginia needing a landfill of this size.

“I don’t think that Virginia does need it. I think that all of the other states need it,” Speas said.

Jim Carver asked whether there was a VDEQ employee present at the meeting. He noted what appeared to be discrepancies between the traffic analysis presented by Green Ridge and a 2017 traffic analysis he obtained from the VDOT website and the 2016 study by Richmond Regional Planning District Commission.

Carver said he studied a segment of road between the Cumberland County line to State Route 629, Old Tavern Road in Powhatan.

He said VDOT categorized the road as a Quality F. He said the commission categorized several roadways as Quality D.

A prior traffic study shown during a planning commission meeting in June for the landfill was conducted by advisory and investment firm Davenport, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which measured the level of service for Route 60 ranging from B to C.

“I think you’ve underestimated, in your statistics, the traffic impact,” Carver said.

Betty and Chris Rankin spoke. Betty asked why there was not more done to advertise public meetings or host more meeting times, asking why letters were not sent in the mail addressing the landfill. She said while meetings were advertised in The Farmville Herald, the meetings notices did not reach residents outside of the paper.

She questioned the self-monitoring Green Ridge would do on the property, asking whether it would provide accurate results.

Chris addressed his comments to the audience, encouraging them to speak to their neighbors, think about the repercussions of the landfill.

“This is a very, very important decision for this county and for this state,” Chris said. “Talk to people, get active, with a large number we can defeat this.”

Roger Hatcher expressed approval for the landfill, saying he helped develop a biosolids management facility in the county before in 2001-2002. He said traffic had already increased between Cumberland and Powhatan.

Jennifer Sullivan, whose husband has serious health issues, asked for assistance in keeping the roads safe for motorists, elderly and disabled individuals traveling to the hospital or other places.

“We’d like some help with that,” Sullivan said. “If you’re going to be here and be good neighbors, help us out.” She suggested making a way to widen the road to avoid trucks in the event of an emergency.

Cifor said answers to participants’ questions would be available on the Green Ridge website. Cifor said after the meeting that County Waste of Virginia initiated contact two years ago with Cumberland County.

“We initiated contact,” Cifor said. He said Cumberland was one of several counties the company met about an opportunity to build a landfill. He said most of the counties in question were not willing to host a landfill.

To email comments, contact Comments@GreenRidgeVA.com. To learn more about the landfill, visit greenridgeva.com or call (844) 545-7112.