By Wayne Gates
Conditions at the Rumpke Landfill were front and center at the January 23 Georgetown Village Council meeting.
The Council chamber was packed with citizens who were frustrated by the odor coming from the landfill and the condition of Mt. Orab Pike and U.S. 68 coming out of the landfill property.
Council Member Kelly Cornette began the topic with a slideshow of photographs and information to illustrate the problem.
“We are seeing quite a few things that are really not working for us as a community…The mess on the roads is dangerous to the people in our community. It’s slick when it rains and the sludge that comes out of the trucks leaving the landfill gets everywhere,” Cornette said.
“We’re just tired. We are tired of the remanents on the road. We are tired of the dust. We are tired of the gray grass. We are tired of the foul odor. We are tired of the excuses of why these issues can’t be fixed.”
Cornette also expressed concern about the impression left by the landfill on people approaching the village on U.S. 68.
“We struggle with that because it can be a deterrent for people who want to move here or open a business here,” she said.
Rumpke executives and representatives attended the meeting to hear the concerns and answer questions.
Following the meeting, Rumpke East Area President Andrew Rumpke said, “We hear the council and the Village of Georgetown and we are taking action. We ask for your patience as we make updates and changes to the Brown County Landfill to better our community.”
Rumpke Region Vice President Jake Rumpke added, “Our biggest take-away from the meeting with the Village of Georgetown council is communication. We outlined our short-term and long-term plans for the Brown County Landfill, and we plan to update the council and our neighbors every step of the way. We are committed to this site and to our community.”
The Rumpke corporation also e-mailed The News Democrat details on planned improvements that are in the works for the landfill. They are listed below as received.
“• We are updating our wheel wash. The wheel wash is a high pressure wash system that is designed to remove mud from the underbody and wheels of vehicles. We have contacted the wheel wash manufacturer, they will be auditing the existing equipment, making repairs and adding pumps to maximize water pressure and cleaning power.
• We added grading and gravel to eliminate ponding areas and extra mud on the landfill roads. This will reduce the amount of mud the trucks have to drive through.
• We added gravel to the exit path of the wheel wash. This will help “shake off” additional dirt from tires as the trucks drive off.
• We are cleaning extra sediment out of the storm water pond that we use to recycle water for the wheel wash.
• We have employed street flushers and a street cleaner around the clock to clean any mud that does make it onto roadways.
• We are meeting weekly with Atomic, a third party transporter, to help their drivers understand the importance of proper use of the wheel wash.
• We are grading and adding gravel to our truck lot to minimize the potential for extra mud to be tracked as the trucks are leaving the site each morning.
• We are operating an odor neutralizing system. The system includes 50 atomizing nozzles, dispensing two gallons of odor neutralizer daily to trap odor before it spreads away
from the site. The odor neutralizer is designed to minimize trash and landfill gas odors. It’s made of water and plant extracts.
• We are updating our landfill gas recovery system. Currently a construction team is onsite evaluating needs and a construction timeline. We are upgrading the vacuum power of existing wells and we will add 10-12 new gas wells to our gas recovery system as the weather improves. Both of these efforts will assist us in eliminating odors.
• Rumpke appointed an onsite inspector. The inspector will perform a visual appraisal of each Atomic truck trailer after it dumps, and before it leaves Rumpke property to ensure all litter is removed and unable to blow from the truck.”
Georgetown Village Administrator Tyler Thompson said he appreciated the visit by the Rumpke officials to the council meeting.
“I came away with the impression that they are going to make a good faith effort to improve some of the problems that our residents have complained about,” he said.
“Anyone with concerns is welcome to contact my office and I can pass their concerns along to the Rumpke Corporation.”
Those with concerns about conditions at the landfill may also call the Rumpke Corporation directly at 1-800-828-8171, extension 7600.
