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Monmouth County will pay $48,000 fine to state for landfill issue

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The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders has authorized a $48,000 settlement between the county and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) after “significant recurring” leaks were identified at the Monmouth County Reclamation Center in Tinton Falls.

“The primary concern in this situation was the discharge of untreated leachate and storm water runoff to the surrounding ground water,” DEP spokeswoman Caryn Shinske said.

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On Dec. 20, the freeholders unanimously passed a resolution and agreed to pay a $48,000 fine after administrative orders, penalty assessments and additional violations pertaining to the matter were incurred from September 2016 through August 2018.

According to the resolution that was before the freeholders, in 2016, “the Phase III landfill (reclamation center) experienced significant recurring leachate seeps and erosion of cover soils on the south facing slope. The seeps and erosion impaired the separation of leachate and storm water at the Phase III slope.

“To limit discharges, the Monmouth County Reclamation Center plugged storm water structures discharging into the storm water basin and removed liquids … On occasions, mixed leachate and storm water has escaped from these control units and entered a storm water basin.”

The resolution outlines a two-year timeline that notes inspections, meetings and temporary solutions put in place to help eliminate the source of the leaks.

According to the resolution, the county has not admitted fault to any of the violations with which it was presented over the course of a two-year period.

In an interview on Dec. 26, Shinske said, “The reclamation center had been working early on to address the matter, but those efforts were not enough to deal with the scope of the problem. There also were several instances of extreme weather, most notably heavy rain, that impacted the situation as well.”

Asked how the DEP became involved, Shinske said, “The leachate collection system was not fully functioning as designed, resulting in leachate seeping through the side slopes of the landfill area in question. The reclamation center is working on various fixes to address the leak both in the short term and the long term. DEP staff routinely inspect the landfill, noticed the leak and requested corrective action.

“The penalty addresses both solid waste landfill maintenance and operating violations, as well as the discharges of leachate and storm water that occurred while the reclamation center worked to correct the problem.

“Short-term corrections address adequate cover and appropriate storm water controls while long-term corrections will address design changes and enhancements to the leachate collection system in this area of the landfill,” she said.

Shinske continued, saying, “The primary concern in this situation was discharge of untreated leachate and storm water runoff  to surrounding ground water. As part of the Administrative Consent Order reached with the reclamation center, the center will sample the areas immediately adjacent to the landfill to ensure no contaminants migrated to those areas.

“If contamination is confirmed, the soils will be removed and replaced with clean soil. The landfill maintains an extensive ground water monitoring program with numerous wells surrounding the facility that are monitored routinely. There have been no impacts noticed to date as a result of the leachate collection difficulties,” she said.

On Dec. 28, Monmouth County Deputy Administrator Geoffrey Tereslay said the DEP conducted regular inspections at the landfill after the leachate issue was detected. Tereslay said leachate – water that comes into contact with garbage – was a recurring issue at the site.

Tereslay said the county and the DEP have continued to monitor and address the matter. He said significant rainfall in early 2018 has exacerbated the issue.

“We had twice the amount of rainfall this year,” he said. “DEP gave us a very, very minor penalty. It could have been much higher.”

Tereslay said county officials have been compliant throughout the process, but have not admitted fault to the situation that has arisen at the landfill in Tinton Falls.

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