“Garbage Juice” to be Sprayed in the Air in North Carolina

North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality has given the go-ahead to three of the state’s landfills and one of its coal-ash dumps to take the leachate produced from their garbage piles and release it into the air with a special spraying technique. The permits issued to allow this operation are valid for 90 days.

In June, a bill to approve of the leachate spraying in landfills that keep waste liquid from being absorbed by the ground underneath was passed and quickly vetoed. This spraying process would release leachate into a separate area of the landfill it came from, hopefully evaporating the water and leaving the waste molecules to be re-taken by the garbage dump.

Although the technique is low-cost, citizens and environmentalists are wondering how the mist will be kept in one place, worried that its toxic fumes could be carried through the air and into residential areas. Despite these legitimate concerns, it may be the best option for North Carolina’s coal-ash dump, which produces up to 11 million litres every month that must be delivered to a waste treating facility otherwise.

 Evaporation ponds, wastewater treatments, and waste removal company trucks can cost upwards of $5 million, while leachate spraying machines cost less than $230,000 each. North Carolina representative Jimmy Dixon had a meeting with nine officials from the Department of Environmental Quality as well as the leachate spray developer Kelly Houston. The group agrees that the bill should be passed to give landfills the option to choose this cheaper method, and that the health and safety concerns of the public are unwarranted.

Currently, there is no solid evidence that leachate spraying is a safe process. The water that evaporates could carry harmful chemicals with it such as methane and heavy metals. Spraying leachate into the air has not been proven to separate its components. The bill was vetoed for this very reason. If the process can be improved or shown to be effective, the legislature may be passed next week when it’s reviewed again.

Regardless of the outcome of the bill, the three landfills that have been approved to use the leachate release technique will remain within their right to try it out for three months. These landfills are located in Bertie County, Person County, and Caldwell County. The Department will also be allowed to test the process in Brickhaven, though its start date has not yet been determined. A new request has been submitted and must be reviewed before the Brickhaven plan can proceed.

Earlier versions of the current plan called for data collection and written reports for all leachate spray landfills. The three approved sites, however, were chosen without the Department collecting data from them or putting them through tests beforehand. Republic Services provided all of the information used in the selection process.

Citizens of the three areas patiently wait to see the outcome of the leachate release tests, as do the landfills carrying them out. If it proves to be ineffective, hopefully a better solution can be reached.