Kansas Agency Holds Hearing on Revising C&D Landfill Permit

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is holding a public hearing Feb. 11 regarding its intention to reissue a revised permit for a construction and demolition landfill in Overland, Kan. APAC-Kansas Inc. owns the facility.

The revised draft permit contains numerous requirements for ongoing measures intended to protect the public’s health and safety. The permit eliminates a special condition that had been proposed in an earlier version of the permit requiring closure by Dec. 31, 2010. At that meeting, a presentation of the topics and issues regarding this facility and draft permit were presented.

KDHE says its December draft permit decision was based on a review of all factors related to the protection of public health and the environment. KDHE says it concluded that the system of controls currently in place at the landfill meet the criteria to maintain public health as demonstrated by extensive ambient air monitoring results. The permit will require APAC-Kansas to closely monitor and properly maintain those controls as long as necessary to ensure that no public health impacts occur.

APAC-Kansas has demonstrated to KDHE that the continuation of landfill operations with continuous on-site presence will facilitate the monitoring and implementation of corrective measures without increasing the risks to public health or the environment, according to KDHE. Since air monitoring and other landfill controls will be needed for many years, it will be beneficial to have additional on-site personnel to promptly respond to maintenance, monitoring and control requirements as they arise.

Another important special condition proposed for the draft permit relates to financial assurance. Each year, APAC-Kansas will be required to evaluate the adequacy of its financial assurance, which is includes the costs to close the landfill, carry out required corrective measures and maintain the landfill and all systems of controls with monitoring through the post-closure care period.