DATE: Saturday, April 19, 1997              TAG: 9704190327

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   63 lines

FOR AWHILE AT LEAST, LANDFILL'S UPWARD GROWTH WILL END

Owners of a Greenbrier-area landfill agreed temporarily to stop using a controversial new method of expanding the pile, a move praised by residents of surrounding neighborhoods.

Elbow Road Farm Inc., which has operated the landfill since 1979, had been building soil berms around the 8.3-acre construction demolition and debris pile and filling them in with waste - building waste up instead of out. The operators said they believed the method was legal under a 1993 state law that allows existing landfills to grow to their permitted size without complying with new environmental laws as long as the slopes do not get too steep. Further, state regulators never said it wasn't legal.

In a meeting Thursday with officials from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Warren Thrasher, son of Daniel L. Thrasher Jr. who owns the business, agreed to stop filling in the berms with trash until the state attorney general's staff can determine whether the law was interpreted correctly, Thrasher and an inspector from the department said. The method hasn't been tried before in the state, they said.

In the meantime, the Thrashers plan to pursue permits from the state to expand the landfill to 29 acres - making the berm method of expansion unnecessary. City Council approved the expansion in 1984.

Residents of several neighborhoods, including several who live on Elbow Road and have an unobstructed view of the 70-foot-high landfill, began investigating the landfill last summer when some trees were cut down and they got their first view of it. They've filed several complaints with the Department of Environmental Quality, which inspects the property regularly.

Following routine reviews and special inspections in response to the complaints, inspectors noted several violations of law. For example, the landfill can accept material such as concrete, lumber, glass and other items found in construction waste, but inspectors found items including asbestos, tires and paper in quantities higher than acceptable.

Milton Johnson, waste compliance manager of the Department of Environmental Quality, said the landfill was not considered a problem because violations were always corrected quickly. Further, Thrasher agreed Friday to more carefully screen incoming waste. And he volunteered to stop filling in the berm, Johnson said.

``He's decided to end the biggest controversy and not use the berms for now,'' Johnson said. Thrasher is allowed, however, to continue to pile on more soil, which will be needed to fill in borrow pits on the site of the proposed westward expansion, toward the new upscale development Warrington Hall.

To end another controversy, Thrasher also agreed to survey the existing landfill to determine its exact size. State environmental officials do not have the resources to survey the land itself, Johnson said.

Thrasher said his family began the process to expand to the landfill in 1984 but had trouble with the changing state waste disposal laws that now require such things as liners and buffers from ground water. He said he is willing to consider further requests from residents - except shutting down.

``There doesn't seem to be any way to please some people except to shut the doors,'' he said. ``That would be shutting down the business.''

Cindy and Ron Bray, Elbow Road homeowners who filed the original complaint against the landfill, said they fear the landfill and sand borrow pits could contaminate their well water and could pose a threat to children who play nearby.

The Brays already can see the 70-foot-high landfill from their living room window and, on occasion, smell organic waste and smoke from fires that have burned inside the pile.

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