
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 17, 1993                   TAG: 9307170042
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LANDFILL GETS DEADLINE TO FIX EROSION

Roanoke County has given the Smith Gap Landfill another four weeks to correct erosion problems that dumped mud and silt into the basement of a nearby house during a heavy storm earlier this month.

John Hubbard, chief executive officer for the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority, said the landfill would meet the Aug. 12 deadline for fixing a sediment pond that overflowed during a July 1 storm.

"We've addressed it with the county, and all of us agreed there was room for improvement," Hubbard said Friday.

This is not the first time Roanoke County has had to take enforcement action against the Smith Gap Landfill, which is under construction on the northern face of Fort Lewis Mountain near Bradshaw.

In April 1992, the county found that the landfill was violating its erosion and sediment control permit. Crews had begun clearing the land without installing sediment-control ponds required under the county's erosion-control laws.

Later, Roanoke County halted all work at the site for a few days after the project engineer, Olver Inc. of Blacksburg, and the contractor, Thomas Bros Inc. of Salem, failed to meet a deadline for corrections.

Hubbard said the landfill has had relatively few erosion problems given the large area - more than 100 acres - that has been cleared and graded.

"Given the size of the site, I think we've had minimal problems," he said.

In a related move, Hubbard said the resource authority would buy the house of Luretta Fagg, whose basement was coated with 4 inches on July 1 after a heavy rain.

Fagg's house will be bought under a "property protection plan" in which the resource authority will make up the difference if nearby houses fail to sell for their appraised value. Hubbard said the authority would pay "in the neighborhood" of $60,000 for the Bradshaw Road house.

"She was looking to move," Hubbard said. "We're just speeding the process and buying the house."

Roanoke, Vinton and Roanoke County are developing the Smith Gap Landfill to replace the existing regional landfill off Rutrough Road in eastern Roanoke County.

by CNB