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There wasn’t much in the way of new information presented Monday, March 3. Representatives delivered basically the same material as in the last two workshops on the proposed Green Ridge landfill, the only difference being this time it was directed at a joint meeting of the planning commission and board of supervisors. The new information came afterwards, as members of both groups asked questions and got some answers about the project. 

“These are very different landfills from the old town dump,” said Mike Lawless. He works with TRC Engineering, the group that has been helping put the project together for Green Ridge.  “These are engineered systems, highly regulated systems that are designed to protect the environment.” 

HIs presentation Monday covered much of what we’ve heard at the previous workshops, this time gone over again for Cumberland supervisors. Wallace argued that one of the big concerns from nearby residents, that of the landfill odor, will be dramatically reduced under the current plan. The landfill won’t accept sludge, processed construction debris or flyash for waste disposal. It also won’t take wastewater treatment plant sludge. 

“The biggest contributors of odor production will not be allowed in the landfill,” Lawless said. “There may still be some odors, to a much, much lesser degree, and that’s where we’ll have the landfill gas capture and control system, because that’s how the odors escape from the landfill, is through that gas. The objective would be to collect that gas (before it escapes).” 

If approved, Lawless said, the project would happen in phases. They don’t want to build the whole 104-acre landfill at once. Instead, it would be done in 10 to 20 acre phases. 

Looking at the project’s size

Specifically, we learned more Monday about the potential maximum size of the project. One of the things that has irritated Cumberland residents is during the last workshop on Feb. 10, we learned about what Green Ridge would do if federal officials grant their second permit request. 

So, to be clear, Green Ridge doesn’t have approval yet for their “initial phase”. That’s what the current set of workshops and planned public hearings is for. That initial phase would only have 104 acres out of the 1,177 acre site available for active dumping. That’s down from 650 acres in the original plan. 

But that doesn’t mean it would permanently be that size. Right now, Green Ridge doesn’t have the permits needed to build on or disturb wetlands, creeks and streams. Will Shewmake, an attorney with Woods Rogers, said in the Feb. 10 workshop if the company does get those permits, things would expand. 

That expansion would mean a jump from 104 acres to 350 total acres available for garbage disposal. It would also mean a significant increase in the size of the garbage mounds. The current application being considered by Cumberland allows trash to pile up to 140 feet above ground level. If Green Ridge gets to expand, they could go up to 225 feet above ground level. The biggest increase would be in the amount of trash brought in. The current application limits that to 1,500 tons of garbage a day. The expansion would allow them to haul in 3,500 tons per day. It would also increase the number of nearby homes impacted. With this “initial phase”, there are 37 houses within a half mile of the disposal area. With expansion, that would climb to 58 homes. 

But what does that translate to? What would the maximum capacity of this landfill be, District 1 Supervisor Bryan Hamlet asked. Mike Wallace with TRC Engineering, which has worked on this project for Green Ridge, said at full build-out, if everything is approved, it would be 30 million cubic yards. The tons in a cubic yard vary, depending on the density of the material, but the average is roughly 1.65 tons per cubic yard. 

What happens if contamination occurs?

Hamlet asked Green Ridge representatives if they would put in writing a guarantee of no groundwater contamination. After going around in circles a bit, the answer was no, they couldn’t guarantee zero contamination. 

Ok then, members of both boards asked, what happens if there is contamination? How do you contain and control that? 

“We’re looking at what the concentration is, where the nearest drinking water well or stream is, and then we look at how it is going to break down,” Wallace said. “And if it will naturally break down before it gets to that, then we’re just going to monitor it to make sure it’s degrading like we think it’s going to degrade. If that’s not the case, then you look at controlling the flow of the groundwater, either through a pumping well, to reverse that groundwater grading in that direction, or if it’s widespread enough, you put in a slurry wall.” 

A slurry wall would be built around the problem area to contain it, until the contamination can be removed, preventing it from getting into the water. 

Will the Green Ridge landfill impact the road? 

Last year, one of the concerns of residents involved how the Green Ridge landfill would impact PineGrove Road. 

While we knew previously that the company planned to bring in an estimated 75 waste hauling trucks per day, Monday night’s meeting started to flesh out what that would mean. 

“We’re looking at about 75 waste hauling trucks per day and most of those will be coming from the east on Route 60, to the entrance of the landfill off of PineGrove Road,” Wallace told the assembled group. 

He added that there might need to be some work done on the pavement or on the shoulders of PineGrove Road, in order to handle all of the vehicles coming through. He told the group he and his staff would work with the Virginia Depart of Transportation (VDOT) to see if the road’s shoulders need to be worked on, or the pavement fixed. 

What’s in it for Cumberland? 

Another question that has been raised repeatedly is what benefit Cumberland County gets from the property. Green Ridge went through the financials on Monday, explaining the different payments the county will receive. 

Host fees for the proposal would be a minimum of $640,000 annually, with another $50,000 annually from the machinery, equipment and tools tax. A payment of $25,000 each would be made each year to the county’s Environmental Science Education Program Fund and Recreational Programs Fund. Green Ridge also claimed that they’re “paying” in another way, by allegedly saving Cumberland money through free garbage disposal for all county government facilities. They claim that will save $750,000 each year. 

The company also laid out what they claim are other ways they’re saving Cumberland residents money. That includes residents using the landfill for free waste disposal, paying for the cost of a county employee, with a $100,000 salary, to monitor the operation and the fact Cumberland would get 25 acres of land to use, once the landfill is decommissioned decades in the future. 

Green Ridge officials also laid out ways they say they’re being a “good neighbor”. That includes paying $4,271 to buy band uniforms for Cumberland County Public Schools, giving the school district another $60,000 for a scholarship fund, $250,000 to the county to develop new parks, $100,000 to the county to help with public safety, $500,000 to reimburse the county for costs related to rezoning and $500,000 to reimburse Cumberland for costs related to the rezoning process. 

Working on the Part B permit

In addition to asking Cumberland for a conditional use permit, Green Ridge is going through the Part B process of its state approval process as well. That’s where they go over the design with state officials, along with the liner system, stormwater management, groundwater monitoring, landfill gas management and a post closure plan for down the road. Also, what would all those trucks do to Pinegrove Road? The Virginia Department of Transportation will have to sign off on that as well. 

As for traffic at the Green Ridge landfill, that was also a point raised during Monday’s meeting. The agreement would ban “unreasonable” traffic, restricting to one truck every 10 minutes, for a maximum of 75 trucks per day. But what’s considered unreasonable? There’s no specific definition in the application and it’s unclear who would get to define that. 

What’s next with Green Ridge landfill? 

So that leads to the next question. When will Cumberland residents get to talk in all this? The answer is on Monday, March 17, also at the Cumberland High Cafetorium. Starting at 6:30 p.m., that will be when the public hearing on the Green Ridge proposal is held during the regular planning commission meeting. Residents will have their chance to speak, and then the planning commission can take a vote about whether or not they recommend the project for approval.