Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 30, 1990 TAG: 9005300272
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: mary bishop
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Steve Bennett, owner of a sawmill adjacent to the private landfill at Selma, said Tuesday that five workers are covering the trash with dirt from his property.
The $24,000 job contracted by the state Department of Waste Management began Friday and should be completed in about two weeks, Bennett said.
The work is a temporary measure until the state can figure out how to pay for a permanent soil cap over the 48-acre site. "They told us [to apply] just a Band-Aid until they know what to do," Bennett said.
County engineers estimated earlier that a cap, pollution controls and years of environmental monitoring at the site would cost $2 million to $5 million. Dump owners have said they are broke and cannot pay for a state-ordered cleanup.
Citing numerous violations of state environmental laws, the state closed the landfill May 10 and demanded that it stop leaking polluted water from the dump.
For the previous 18 months, owners had accepted thousands of truckloads of out-of-state garbage. County residents warned the state of pollution there for more than a year before the state acted.
by CNB