Rostraver landfill fined $24K for contaminated runoff
In May 2019, the Belle Vernon sewage treatment plant stopped accepting (Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill)’s leachate because its excessive volume and toxic chemical components were damaging the sewage plant’s ability to treat wastewater before it was discha
The Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill will pay a $24,000 fine for violations involving the improper disposal of shale gas drilling waste and contaminated liquids in 2019, according to terms of a state Department of Environmental Protection consent order.
The landfill, located in Rostraver, Westmoreland County, also must undertake corrective actions to minimize the amount of “leachate” generated by stormwater washing through the drilling waste in the landfill and install new leachate treatment equipment.
In May 2019, the Belle Vernon sewage treatment plant stopped accepting the landfill’s leachate because its excessive volume and toxic chemical components were damaging the sewage plant’s ability to treat wastewater before it was discharged into the Monongahela River.
In a separate ongoing investigation, not affected by last Tuesday’s consent order, the state attorney general’s Environmental Crimes Section is reviewing the damages at the treatment plant and the contaminated wastewater discharges, including a January 2019 DEP email that proposed allowing the illegal sewage plant discharges into the river to continue and have the landfill pay the Belle Vernon treatment plant’s fines for the polluted discharges.
The treatment plant rejected that offer.
“This consent order is a step in the right direction, but probably five years too late,” said Guy Kruppa, Belle Vernon sewage plant superintendent, who questioned why the DEP is continuing to allow the landfill to truck its leachate to two Pennsylvania and two Ohio public wastewater treatment facilities.
“Those wastewater plants aren’t set up to treat leachate from drilling wastes any better than we do,” he said.
DEP records show the landfill, which also goes by the name Tervita-Rostraver Township Sanitary Landfill, began accepting drilling waste cuttings — soil and rock and chemicals produced by the drilling process — in 2010. In 2017, it took in 119,716 tons of that waste, amounting to about 40% of its total waste stream.
In 2018, it received 159,845 tons of drilling waste, about 47% of its total tonnage for the year. The DEP records show the landfill produced approximately 1 million gallons of leachate a month in 2018.
Pennsylvania landfills are not allowed to accept liquid waste but leachate is generated by moisture in the drilling waste rock, soil and stormwater infiltrating the landfills.
In addition to covering more of the landfill to reduce its exposure to stormwater, the landfill will seek a permit modification to allow temporary trucking of leachate to wastewater treatment facilities until it installs equipment to treat and evaporate leachate on site. The landfill’s existing leachate management plan does not authorize trucking of the contaminated water, which would involve up to 18 truck trips a day.
Ro Rozier, a Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill spokeswoman, issued a statement saying the landfill is “pleased” with the terms of the consent order.
“Under the terms and conditions of this agreement, Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill has committed to investing substantial amounts of capital to purchase and install technology and equipment capable of treating and evaporating the leachate generated from the landfill on site,” Ms. Rozier stated. “We are confident that our plan for onsite treatment and evaporation will resolve the landfill’s recent leachate disposal issues.”