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Pittsylvania County will pay a $1,300 civil penalty for a "leachate" leak at the county's landfill in Dry Fork, although local and state officials both said the leak was minor and did not contaminate the nearby Banister River.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality discovered the leak during an unannounced inspection last March.
According to DEQ, a small seep was found along the base of the Phase 1 cell, a 10-acre site closed two years ago.
The county discovered that a leachate pump, similar to a submersible well pump, 80 feet below the garbage wasn't working properly.
It pumps out leachate - basically any liquid that comes in contact with trash - to a million-gallon holding pond, where it is stored before being sent to Chatham's Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The pump was running, but its impellers had corroded, rendering it useless.
The county installed a new pump with a flow meter and is checking flows on a weekly basis to insure leachate is properly removed, said Assistant County Administrator Otis Hawker.
Hawker said tests around the leak determined it did not enter the landfill's stormwater system or contaminate a nearby stream or the river.
"They could not determine there was any release," he said.
Marvin Booth III, an enforcement representative with DEQ's Lynchburg office, described the leak as "very minimal in nature."
http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2009/01/26/chatham/news/news20.txt
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