The remedy for the site located at 715 North Dayton-Lakeview Rd. consists of the following measures, according to the EPA’s Record of Decision:
- Enhancing the existing cap, or cover, over the landfill and installing vents to allow for landfill gas to be released passively
- Treating on-site groundwater by injecting microorganisms in combination with vegetable oil or iron powder, known as zero-valent iron, into the groundwater to break down the contamination
- Installing systems in buildings to actively prevent the potential for contaminated vapors migrating into the buildings, and
- Placing restrictions on land-use to protect the landfill cap, limit exposure to waste, ensure people do not drink contaminated water, and ensure the protection of human health on future developments on properties with potential for vapor intrusion.
The EPA did not provide a date, in the decision filed in September, for when the work would begin.
Clark County Combined Health District health commissioner Charles Patterson told the News-Sun Wednesday that the health district is happy with the remedies the EPA decided upon and will continue to monitor the situation.
The 22-acre former solid waste landfill was added to the Superfund National Priorities list in 2009, which made it eligible for long-term clean-up paid for by the federal Superfund program.
That location near New Carlisle served as a general solid waste landfill site for about two decades and was closed in 1977.
Before that it received industrial, commercial and residential wastes, according to a report from the EPA. Since then, it has remained unused and undeveloped and is currently covered with a vegetated clay cover, according to the EPA.
“No waste or contamination has been found at the surface of the landfill parcel, but additions to the cover are necessary to meet current Federal and State requirements,” the EPA said.
The agency also found that houses which previously used wells that were affected by contaminated groundwater from the landfill site have been connected to municipal water sources.
The agency previously reported that groundwater sampling detected contaminants called volatile organic compounds in groundwater south of the landfill.
Groundwater flows in a southerly direction in the region and New Carlisle’s public water supply production wells located northeast of the site have not been impacted by site conditions, according to the EPA.
In 2005, the EPA completed an emergency cleanup to provide alternate potable water to a nearby nursery as well as to residences with affected private wells.
Other residential and business wells in the area that have been sampled during Ohio EPA investigations were found not to have site contaminants above drinking water standards, according to information provided by the EPA.
A remedial investigation to determine the nature and extent of contamination at the site was completed in 2017 and a feasibility study regarding cleanup options was completed in 2019.
“We want to ensure that everyone has safe drinking water and no one is drinking out of contaminated wells,” Patterson said.
The EPA’s decision about site OU1 includes a response to the public comments received during the Proposed Plan public comment period from August to September of 2020. Additional site information can be found at the EPA website for the New Carlisle Landfill Superfund Site: www.epa.gov/superfund/new-carlisle-landfill.
By the Numbers:
22: The size in acres of the former New Carlisle solid waste landfill
1977: The year the landfill officially closed
2019: The year the feasibility study for cleanup options was completed
