Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 3, 1993 TAG: 9304030077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CAR SHREDDER GETS LANDFILL OK
Shredded Products Corp.'s permit for an industrial-waste landfill in Franklin County will be approved within a month, state Department of Environmental Quality officials said Friday.The landfill permit was the last impediment to the car shredder's proposal to move its operation from Montvale in Bedford County to Peaceful Valley Farm, about five miles south of Rocky Mount.
Don Brunson, the environmental engineer who has overseen Shredded Products' application with the state, said the company's permit will take into consideration Franklin County residents' concerns about the car-shredding operation.
"We went through it above and beyond what we normally do," Brunson said of the permit application. "Just fine-tooth-combed it, essentially. We thought there would be some things we could do in the permit to address some of the concerns."
Among those adjustments, Brunson said, is a requirement that Shredded Products conduct annual tests on the materials it buries in the landfill. But Brunson said he has reviewed extensive test results that indicate the "fluff" - nonmetal car parts - buried in the landfill will not be hazardous waste.
Another amendment to the company's permit addresses dust that could shake loose and go into the air before the fluff is buried. The company is looking into burying the fluff without first baling it. The loose fluff would travel along a conveyor belt from where the cars are shredded to the landfill, increasing the possibility of dust.
"A lot of people are really concerned about things in the air, and I don't blame them," Brunson said, "so we kind of strengthened the permit along those lines."
The 40-acre landfill would have a lifespan of 30 years if Shredded Products bales the fluff and about 23 years if it buries the fluff unbaled.
A draft copy of the permit has been approved and sent to executives at Roanoke Electric Steel, the parent company of Shredded Products. Company officials were not available for comment Friday, but Brunson said they had not balked at the changes to the permit.
State air-pollution control officials have reviewed Shredded Products' permit and determined that a separate air-pollution permit should not be required.
Not everyone is confident that Shredded Products will be a harmless operation. About 50 Franklin County residents showed up last month to try one final time to convince the Board of Supervisors to withdraw its support for the landfill. The 25 jobs the company will add to the county's economy would not be worth risking long-term environmental damage, the residents argued.
Pete Castelli, with the Floyd County-based Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, argued that the landfill is more of an unknown danger than a solid-waste landfill.
"This company has a despicable record and they're coming into Franklin County and no one seems to be talking about that," he said. "This facility could become something completely different three or four years down the road."
The county supervisors asked the state to limit the landfill to waste produced by Shredded Products. Brunson said that restriction will remain unless the supervisors ask for the permit to be changed.
After a 1989 fluff fire that smoldered for 38 days in Bedford County, the state fined Shredded Products $15,000 for illegally stockpiling the unwanted car parts. Franklin County Supervisor Lois English said it will be up to the supervisors to not forget about Shredded Products' past problems once the company is operating.
"Most of the time when the people are alerted, it makes them sit up and do a better job," English said. "You got to keep an eye on them and let them know you are on the ball."