3M says chemical in water harmless

By Bob Shaw
The St. Paul Pioneer Press

WOODBURY, MN - 3M Co. has a message for Washington and Dakota counties: Stop worrying about your water.

The most extensive tests undertaken on a chemical recently found in drinking water in those areas show that trace amounts are harmless to humans, company officials said Tuesday.

"This reassures me tremendously," said Dr. Larry Zobel, 3M's corporate medical director.

The tests examined the effect of PFBA, or perfluorobutanoic acid, a chemical used to make photographic film that is believed to have leaked into groundwater from sites in Woodbury and Lake Elmo....Read more.

Washington County / 3M seeks new test wells for old dump

By Bob Shaw
The St. Paul Pioneer Press

WOODBURY, MN - The 3M Co. is proposing to drill 15 new wells to test Washington County's water for pollution by chemicals the company created.

Plans for the wells are included in a draft plan to monitor pollution that was requested of 3M by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

If drilled, the new wells would double the number of wells clustered around an old 3M waste disposal site in Woodbury....Read more.

Gregory Canyon battle enters 18th year

By Ron Jonason
The Village News

FALLBROOK, CA - Eighteen years ago Gregory Canyon was proposed for a landfill on a 1,770-acre site at the foot of Gregory Mountain just south of Highway 76 and three miles east of Interstate 15.

Today, despite rhetoric on both sides, proponents and opponents of the project are unable to say with any certainty when – or even if – the landfill will ever be built. One thing is certain: huge financial profits and serious environmental concerns remain the driving forces fueling this continuing battle....Read more.

Water cops reject Pendleton landfill plan

By Gig Conaughton
The North County Times

SAN DIEGO, CA - San Diego County's water cops tersely rejected a proposal by Camp Pendleton this week that proposed to fix the base's leaky Las Pulgas landfill by pulling a new $5.5 million liner over the top of the trash that already sits on the $2.3 million landfill's existing, torn liner.

San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board officials said the proposed cleanup "action plan" would put an umbrella over the leaky liner, and prevent rainfall from falling through the landfill to its lowest levels.

But they said it would do nothing to prevent the existing polluted leachate from thousands of gallons of hazardous waste from continuing to leak through the lower liner into groundwater supplies nearby, or to prevent additional trash from increasing the weight and continuing to tear holes in the existing liner....Read more.

Base plans for repair of landfill rejected

By Rick Rogers
The San Diego Union-Tribune

CAMP PENDLETON, CA – First, Camp Pendleton officials angrily denied any problem with their Las Pulgas Landfill.

After being cited repeatedly by state regulators, they grudgingly admitted to having issues with the 17-acre site – but only small ones.

Then a base-commissioned study estimated it might cost $30 million to fix the $2.3 million dump, but also laid out plans for much cheaper repairs.

Now, the rocky history of Las Pulgas has hit a new low: The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board is flatly rejecting Camp Pendleton's turnaround plan for the landfill. It's also suggesting permanent closure of the site because the problems might be unfixable....Read more.

EPAs don't see dross in landfill as hazardous

BY Robert Wang
The Canton Repository

PIKE TWP - The U.S. Department of Transportation says it’s hazardous.

In Wabash, Ind., it’s suspected of causing a fire last year in at least one, if not two, landfills.

And south of Uhrichsville, in Tuscarawas County, it produced ammonia gas and contaminated a wetland. Later, nearly a million tons of it were trucked to Stark County and buried at Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in Pike Township.

So why don’t the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. EPA list aluminum dross as a hazardous waste? And why isn’t it restricted from solid waste landfills?...Read more.

Emergency plan needed, trustees told

By BARB LIMBACHER
The Times-Reporter

BOLIVAR – Dick Harvey and Tom O’Dell of Club 3000 were presented an environmental award by Lawrence Township trustees for their service to the area.

Harvey told trustees at their Thursday meeting that the township should have an emergency response plan in effect. According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency director’s findings and orders issued Feb. 27, an evacuation plan should be in place within 60 days after the findings were issued. The emergency response plan is listed in the findings and orders on Page 21, Section 11....Read more.

Commissioner eyes landfill citation process

By ZACH LINT
The Times-Reporter

BOLIVAR - Tuscarawas County Commissioner Chris Abbuhl said Thursday that he sent a letter to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in hopes of “leveling the playing field” when it comes to weekly landfill inspections.

Abbuhl was concerned after finding a discrepancy between the number of “notice of violation” letters that Kimble Landfill at Dover received in comparison to the number received by Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility at East Sparta and American Landfill at Waynesburg....Read more.