Tri-City Regional Landfill
Kenneth Lewis calls it “Mount Stenchmore.”
It’s an unflattering nickname he says he coined for the 90-acre-plus Tri-City Regional Landfill, which borders state Route 36 and the Appomattox River in Petersburg.
Lewis, a former member of the Petersburg School Board and former president of the Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, says the landfill deserves the moniker.
“It stinks,” he says. “I’ve been in my car driving up [Route] 36 when I’ve had to hold my breath when passing by Mount Stenchmore and that’s a reality. I’ve been on the Colonial Heights side and when that wind hits just right, you have to hold your nose to get to your car to get away from there,” he says.
Lewis made the comments during a community meeting in July to address the foul odor that local residents say the landfill emits, and he reiterated the comments in a recent telephone interview.
“You’ve got a New Mexico-style mountain range now and the stench that goes with it,” Lewis says of the towering mountain of trash that can be seen looming off the east side of Interstate 95 at the river bridge and at various other points in the Tri-Cities.
Lewis is hoping for some relief as a consequence of a multi-count lawsuit filed against the landfill and its owners — CFS Group Disposal and Recycling Services, LLC — on Nov. 1 by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
The attorney general’s office says the action was taken against Container First Services (CFS) after significant and repeated waste management violations at the landfill.
“People kind of turn up their nose and say, ‘That’s disgusting.’ It’s a real detriment to downtown.” —Local tour guide Rhonda Donald
“CFS repeatedly received warnings that it was in violation of the law, but it continued to ignore its responsibility to protect the land, air and water around the Tri-City Landfill and failed to comply with waste management permits and regulations,” Herring says. “We are asking the court to ensure that CFS stops these violations and compensates Virginia accordingly for its role in damaging the environment around its Petersburg facility.”
Herring alleges in the suit that CFS exceeded the permitted waste pile height, failed to maintain its stormwater control system, failed to adequately cover exposed waste, did not maintain the required amount of extra waste cover on site, and failed to correct violations in a timely manner after receiving a warning letter, notices of violation and two consent orders.
"I'm happy to see it, because it shows that somebody at the senior level of leadership in Virginia cares about Petersburg. I hope its beneficial for the city health-wise and financial-wise,” Lewis says of the lawsuit.
Trash at the Tri-City Regional Landfill
The landfill owner provided a statement by email regarding the suit: "Meridian Waste purchased CFS Disposal & Recycling in 2017 and is aware that the complaint allegations date back to 2015 and 2016 prior to the Company’s purchase of the disposal facility. We cannot comment on pending litigation; however, we have amended operations to greatly reduce waste disposal at the Tri-City Landfill and to transfer materials to a different Virginia permitted landfill while the site undergoes operational improvements."
During the July community meeting about the landfill, Ron Guidry, president and CEO of Container First Services, emphasized the investments the company had made in the community since 2009, when the firm acquired the landfill from the City of Petersburg. Guidry says CFS has poured $30 million into the landfill, hired 167 employees and spent $1.3 million to acquire land for expansion.
“That landfill was built in 1977,” Guidry says. “I think it’s a better run landfill than when the city owned it. We’ve done unbelievable things for the community.”
Under an agreement CFS has with Petersburg, the city receives $1 for each ton of waste disposed in the landfill. The company is also obligated to pay the city $50,000 annually, plus half of the revenue from the sale of recyclable materials and half of the sale of methane generated at the landfill, according to news reports.
In addition, CFS pays the salary of a liaison who works for the city and monitors activities at the landfill.
As for odors, Guidry says that just comes with the waste management business. “It stinks in trash cans, it stinks in the trucks, it stinks coming down the road and it will stink in the landfill till we get it covered over at night,” he says.
But the state’s lawsuit says the company repeatedly failed to adequately cover exposed waste. The lawsuit doesn’t take up the issue of odor.
Indeed, at the July public hearing on the landfill, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) acknowledged that odors were present on some of the agency's inspections, but not always.
“It's not uncommon to receive odor complaints from landfills, particularly those situated near business and residential areas,” says Greg Bilyeu, a DEQ spokesman. He adds that based on recent reports, the landfill has about 3.5 years of life, and any expansion of the landfill would require DEQ approval.
Barb Rudolph of Clean Sweep Petersburg
One of the groups pushing the landfill to resolve the odor issue is Clean Sweep Petersburg, which describes itself as “a forum for Petersburg citizens, and friends of the city, who seek to shed sunshine on the conduct of Petersburg city government.”
“Ideally, I would still like to see CFS removed—one way or another—as the operator," says Barb Rudolph, a co-founder of Clean Sweep Petersburg and a former budget director for major state agencies, including the Virginia Department of Health.
"Between the increased scrutiny, bad press, cost of abatements, fines that may come from the lawsuit, changes in practices to avoid future infractions, etc., one hopes it will no longer be so profitable for them to do business at this location,” Rudolph says.
She adds that the odor people complain about from the landfill is just one more thing that the city has to contend with in terms of its image.
In 2016, Petersburg had to deal with the potential of large-scale cuts to public services after a state audit found a $12 million budget shortfall and the prospect of insolvency by the end of the year. But belt-tightening and outside financial handlers helped right the ship.
Still, a shadow hangs over the city of about 33,000, which for a number of years also had turmoil within its civic leadership.
After industry began to fade in Petersburg, government and historical entities started emphasizing preservation of historic building and tourism.
Some believe that offensive odors are a threat to the tourism industry and to the city’s Old Towne historic district, which has had a resurgence as restaurants and other businesses have opened.
Rhonda Donald, a local tour guide, says she has been guiding visitors through the city when someone will smell what they say is an odor of garbage.
“I just say "It’s the landfill, people kind of turn up their nose and say, ‘That’s disgusting.’ It’s a real detriment to downtown,” Donald says.
The landfill looms behind the Southpark shopping area.
Residential areas are affected by the odors that sometimes waft over the city, too. Between Feb. 3 and April 24, Donald says, she experienced 21 instances in which she smelled odors. She submitted an online complaint to the Department of Environmental Quality outlining her concerns.
Donald, who lives in the city about 2 miles from the landfill, says that the odor had been a problem outside her home, but this winter it began to permeate her house.
“Breathing such vile air cannot be healthy, and if the odor isn’t being controlled, how can we know that the landfill isn’t leaching toxins into the Appomattox River? Put simply, the situation is disgusting,” she says in her complaint. “Please help those living and working in proximity to the landfill get some much-needed relief.”
Petersburg City Council member Treska Wilson-Smith, who acknowledges that the landfill's operators have contributed to her campaign for council, says that city residents have been complaining about the odors for years.
Wilson-Smith says that residents need to document when they smell the odors and then call the landfill operators so that they can come to their property and try to identify the odor.
“In my opinion, it is not just the landfill. There are two distinct odors. One from the landfill, which I have said smells like chicken fat, and the other is a gaseous smell which I do not know where it is coming from."
She says CFS officials have told her that some of the odors have been coming from the Colonial Height sewage treatment plant. “Unfortunately, the entire process is hurting Petersburg,” Wilson-Smith says.
Though CFS is under scrutiny now, in the past it has received praise.
The company won the 2011 Impact Award from the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce (ChamberRVA) in recognition of its effect on the region’s economy.
Del. Lashrecse Aird (D-63rd District), who helped organize the July community meeting, has been considering introducing legislation in the upcoming General Assembly session that would address the odor problems.
When reached in early November, she was still researching what legislation, if any, would be appropriate, especially in light of the attorney general’s lawsuit against the landfill’s operators.
