Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 31, 1994 TAG: 9501030055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The company has been talking with engineers, local officials and people in the community, in part trying to avoid any comparisons to Alleghany County's other famous, or infamous, landfill.
``Obviously, it's very sensitive, the word 'landfills,' because of Kim-Stan. Very sensitive,'' said Westvaco spokesman Robert Crockett.
The proposed industrial landfill would have two liners made of impermeable plastic, a drain system to collect liquid and pipe it back to Westvaco's wastewater treatment plant, extra groundwater monitoring wells, paved roads to cut down on dust, and a wide ``greenbelt'' around the site to buffer nearby homes from the sight, sound and smell.
Crockett said it's been called ``a Cadillac of industrial landfills.''
If that's the case, Kim-Stan could be the Edsel.
Built before the state enacted tough environmental regulations, Kim-Stan is a huge pit in the ground between Covington and Clifton Forge. It was privately owned and operated for profit before the state closed it for causing environmental damage. Kim-Stan still stinks and oozes leachate into the Jackson River downstream from Westvaco.
Westvaco is proposing a 66-acre state-of-the-art landfill to be built on a 228-acre site behind the mill. The new landfill would replace three old ones, also built before state rules took effect, but Crockett said that monitoring wells have not shown any contamination from those three dumps.
The landfill would take fly ash; lime mud, which is a calcium carbonate byproduct; wastewater treatment sludge; and general mill trash such as office paper and demolition debris. Crockett said all the wastes are defined as nonhazardous by the state.
It would cost about $30million and would last 20 years, he said.
As a first step, Westvaco sent hundreds of letters to its neighbors inviting them to an open house where the project would be explained in detail. About 90 people came, Crockett said.
Next, the company is asking Alleghany County to rezone part of the property and approve a special-use permit. Two public hearings have been held, and a handful of people expressed concern about the proximity of the proposed landfill to the river, said County Administrator Eston Burge.
The landfill would be between 400 and 500 feet from the river and from the Intervale and Oakwood Forest communities, Crockett said. Westvaco believes the landfill's design will protect the environment and public health, he said.
The county Planning Commission supported the project, Burge said. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the land use changes at its Jan.3 meeting.
The final step for Westvaco will be the longest one - applying for a solid-waste permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality. Crockett said he anticipates the process, which includes at least one more public hearing, will take a year to 15 months.
Judging from the public's initial reaction, the project might not elicit much opposition.
``It's like comparing apples and oranges,'' said Aggie Vint, one of the community activists who has led the fight against Kim-Stan since 1988.
When Westvaco first revealed its plans, Vint - a sort of homegrown landfill expert - got a lot of calls from people asking her what she thought.
``As long as they're building it by law ... I have no problem with it,'' Vint said.
by CNB