IN RESPONSE to a letter sent by Guam Resource Recovery Partners to the U.S. Department of Justice alleging the management of leachate at Layon Landfill violated provisions of the Clean Water Act, the Guam Waterworks Authority, in a statement, said the operators of Layon Landfill “have always followed all GWA rules and regulations.”
Citing federal receiver Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc., GWA stated that leachate from the landfill has always been directed to the Inarajan Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP).
Furthermore, in tests run from Sept. 8 to 10, 2010, the Guam Environmental Protection Agency determined that the discharge from the Inarajan facility reaches the Pacific Ocean at two locations on the outside edge of a tidal reef.
GRRP had stated that federal law required having a permit before leachate could be discharged into Guam waters. In August 2012, GRRP asked the U.S. EPA whether a discharge permit existed for Inarajan. According to GRRP, “David Smith from the federal environmental agency responded in an email dated Aug. 22, stating that the U.S. EPA remains in discussion with GWA about the matter but has not received an application to date, nor has a permit been prepared.”
GWA response
Yesterday, GWA sent a response to the GRRP complaint through spokesperson Heidi Ballendorf. According to GWA, “The Layon Landfill is a legitimate legal customer of GWA and has been since the start of their plans to build the landfill. They have always followed all GWA rules and regulations.”
Ballendorf also clarified that “the leachate goes directly to the Inarajan WWTP and no wastewater leaves Inarajan WWTP since it is a zero discharge facility.”
“At no time is leachate discharged into any other sewage collection and treatment system other than the GWA southern district wastewater system,” Ballendorf said.
“The ability of the Inarajan treatment plant to effectively treat the leachate has been confirmed on a quarterly basis since the treatment plant began accepting leachate on Sept. 1, 2011,” Ballendorf added, “and the treatment plant has had no adverse impacts attributable to treating leachate.”
According to Ballendorf, GWA did a die trace study to verify this. “The ocean around the WWTP is constantly monitored by GBB to confirm this and has been for six months prior to receiving the leachate.”
GRRP’s application to put up another landfill facility on island was denied last month by GEPA, which stated the application failed to meet specific requirements on financial assurance, post-closure care, and management of leachate.
More than two weeks later, GRRP filed a notice of intent to appeal, disputing GEPA’s earlier conclusion by stating that the “decision contains numerous factual and legal errors that must be corrected by the GEPA board and that its remaining determinations are without support.”
