FULTON CONSIDERING OPTIONS TO ADDRESS LANDFILL LEAKS

Ful­ton county com­mis­sion­ers are con­sid­er­ing devel­op­ment of their own waste­water treat­ment plant.

The pro­posed new facil­ity would treat 600,000 gal­lons of waste­water a day. Although the plant would treat other liq­uids, it would also tar­get leachate from the old Ful­ton County Land­fill. The land­fill has been closed since 1981, yet it is releas­ing leachate into the sur­round­ing ground at the rate of about 10,000 gal­lons a week.

Offi­cials say Leachate is gen­er­ated from liq­uids in waste in a land­fill and can pose both envi­ron­men­tal and pub­lic health con­cerns.

Rep­re­sen­ta­tives from the Ohio Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion Agency inves­ti­gated the land­fill in 1989, 1991, 1996, 2000, and 2002 and found evi­dence of releases of con­t­a­m­i­nants into a trib­u­tary of Dry Creek. They say that although the land­fill has been closed for more than 30 years, there is always going to be post clo­sure main­te­nance necessary.