Resource Control, Inc. Assessed a Total of $26,000 in Penalties Due to Environmental Violations at the Barre Landfill

Resource Control, Inc. of Westborough has been assessed a total of $26,000 in penalties by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) as a result of odorous conditions at the Barre Sanitary Landfill on Depot Road.

A consent order requires Resource Control to perform corrective actions, pay a $6,500 administrative penalty to the Commonwealth, and provide an additional $19,500 for a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) that is designed to enhance the Miller's Beach Park, located adjacent to the landfill on the Ware River.

After receiving odor complaints from neighbors of the landfill on February 27, 2007, MassDEP inspected the facility and determined that hydrogen sulfur odors were being emitted from the landfill as a result of technical problems with the gas collection system and an automated alarm system.

In addition to the penalty and the SEP, Resource Control will be required to conduct daily inspections of the entire gas collection system, install a fail-safe system for both the gas flare ignition system and the gas flare alarm system, hire a full-time landfill gas technician, complete a third party assessment of the landfill gas collection/control systems and identify specific requirements to extend 100 percent gas collection coverage of the facility, install gas wells and collection appurtenances identified in the third party assessment, install the final cap on the west and north slopes of area A, and identify any potential point sources of landfill gas and take necessary actions to address these issues.

"Nuisance conditions will not be tolerated, and must be addressed at any Solid Waste Management facility," said Martin Suuberg, director of MassDEP's Central Regional Office in Worcester. "Proper management of the gas collection and control systems is essential to avoiding future problems."

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