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A letter issued to Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal Facility President Jerry Cifor by Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) officials March 20 determined the facility’s Notice of Intent (NOI) was “administratively incomplete.”

Green Ridge submitted its NOI and Part A application for the proposed landfill, to be located in Cumberland County, to DEQ Jan. 17 of this year.

When reviewing the NOI for administrative completeness, DEQ found issues that needed to be addressed in both the document’s disclosure statement and local government certification.

In the letter to Cifor, DEQ Groundwater Remediation Specialist Dean E. Starook requested Green Ridge review the submitted disclosure statements and provide new and/or revised disclosure statement forms “to ensure the applicant and all key personnel are identified.”

Starook specifically mentioned the identification of GFL (Green for Life) Environmental, a Canadian-based company that purchased Green Ridge owner County Waste of Virginia earlier this year.

Cifor was also asked to provide a diagram or explanation outlining the corporate/LLC structure as it relates to Green Ridge and to describe how each entity is related.

Additionally, Starook wrote that Section 4.0 of the NOI references the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors’ approval of a Conditional Use Permit. DEQ requested that revisions of the NOI include a copy of the permit issued by the county.

The letter also referenced the joint Prince Edward/Cumberland County Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP). The two counties are in the process of revising their SWMP to incorporate Green Ridge. The plan must be completed prior to DEQ issuing a permit to the landfill.

Jay Smith, spokesperson for Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal Facility, said the company doesn’t anticipate its NOI revisions to take much time.

“The two requests for additional information will not take long to complete,” he said Tuesday, April 7. “While there is no deadline imposed by DEQ to provide the information, we anticipate responding by the end of this week so that the permitting process can continue without delay.”

Smith said the current COVID-19 pandemic has not slowed the Green Ridge team in any way.

Ann Regn of DEQ’s communications division said in an email Wednesday, April 8, much of the department’s regional and central office staff are working from home to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission. She added that DEQ continues to process Green Ridge’s permit application in accordance with applicable regulations.

She said the review of the NOI, Part A and Part B applications typically takes longer than a year to complete.

“No decisions regarding a draft permit for the proposed Green Ridge facility will be made without a public hearing and opportunity for public comment,” Regn advised.