Loudon County solid waste commission hears progress report on landfill closure, approves Sept. 6 closure for staff rodeo

The Loudon County Solid Waste Commission received a substantive operations update on the county landfill, including timelines for partial closure and capping work, leachate-tank repairs, stormwater-pond remediation and a plan to capture and euthanize a large number of vultures, and voted to close the landfill on Sept. 6 to allow employees to attend a heavy-equipment rodeo.

The vote to close the landfill for the rodeo was made and approved during the meeting; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript. Commission members discussed signage and customer notification; staff said signage had been up for two weeks and Saturday customers had been contacted.

The meeting focused chiefly on construction and environmental controls intended to move the landfill closer to partial and full closure. Republic (the landfill operator) and consultants reported the county’s closure plan has been revised since 2022: an earlier expansion of about 13 acres has been reduced to about 10.2 acres, and that change requires reworking closure sequencing and related engineering plans. Consultants warned that delays increase both Republic’s closure costs and the commission’s post-closure expenses; one example given was a roughly $7 million increase tied to rising materials and related costs cited for a single year’s change in the closure cost projections.

Technical work under way or planned includes: completing cell construction for Module 1, installing the liner for Module 2 (with module 2 liner work expected to start the week after the meeting), and finishing a slip-line project on a gravity line that is being held up by one missing plug. Staff and contractors estimated an early-to-mid-September target for finishing the slip line and completing the leachate-collection riser that follows. The project schedule in the meeting paired cell construction, slip-line work and leachate-collection completion as sequential steps.

Leachate and tank compliance were discussed in detail. Staff said the existing leachate tank needs re-anchoring and refurbishing — ‘‘full skirts, full anchors’’ and other repairs — and that the tank manufacturer projected work would be complete by Sept. 15. To meet a regulatory requirement to keep at least 30 days of leachate capacity on site (an item staff cited as coming from TDEC’s 2018 guidance), the commission was told the site needs roughly 350,000 gallons of capacity; staff plan to install a 250,000-gallon tank in addition to the existing 106,000-gallon tank so the combined volume satisfies that requirement.

Stormwater and surface-water work is ongoing. Staff reported Pond 3 had been dewatered and dredged, with confirmatory samples submitted and the pond returned to operation. Pond 2 remains under remediation: ammonia levels had returned to compliance but chemical oxygen demand (COD) remained slightly above the compliance limit; staff said they will continue aeration and would temporarily use a new pump to speed remediation.

The commission also discussed a partial-closure plan to preserve access on the top deck of certain landfill sections. Engineers described installing intermediate-depth vents — an 8-inch well inside a 12-inch auger hole with rock pack around it — to allow passive venting and prevent ‘‘ballooning’’ under final caps. Staff said the site does not currently meet thresholds that would require an active gas-collection system and that passive vents and, if needed for odors, small combustion devices (described as ‘‘solar flares’’ or tiki-torch–style igniters) are planned as contingency measures.

Wildlife control drew several exchanges. A resident and others said vultures have become more numerous over the past several months; meeting participants said the landfill manager had previously used a permit to kill some birds while he worked at the site. Staff described a plan to trap vultures by baiting and then euthanize captured birds; staff also said they would coordinate with neighboring homeowners to obtain property releases so birds could be shot from those parcels if needed. The meeting referenced prior permits (the city of Loudon had a limited permit, and USDA actions were also discussed) and recommended verifying current permitting before spending commission funds on outside contractors for bird control.

Neighbors’ concerns and convenience-center maintenance issues also featured in public comment and staff discussion. A resident said mud on nearby roads remains a problem after rains and said she has time-stamped photographs; another reported hydraulic fluid leaking intermittently from a compactor at a convenience center. Staff and commissioners discussed prior requests to Republic for a separate lined cell devoted to yard waste — branches, trees and limbs — to reduce use of the expensive lined landfill cells. Commissioners and staff said Republic and city officials have discussed options for yard-waste management and that Tennessee National (a neighboring property owner/developer) is asking to build a berm on landfill property to buffer its lots; staff proposed granting Tennessee National permission to survey and stake a potential 50-foot easement and return with a formal easement document in September.

Legal and financial issues were flagged for ongoing work. Staff summarized a July 25 call with attorneys about elements that would be litigated if complaints were filed, including mud on roads and seawall questions; they said work to re-evaluate the 2022 closure agreement is underway and that Republic has expressed interest in purchasing the permit and land but that such a sale would require further negotiation. The commission asked staff to prepare information on out-of-pocket legal and engineering consulting costs the commission has incurred and indicated those costs may be included in reimbursement discussions with Santech (spelled in meeting materials as Santech/Santtech in different places).

Votes at a glance - Motion: Close the landfill on Sept. 6 for the heavy-equipment rodeo. Outcome: Approved (motion made, seconded; vote recorded as an aye vote, no roll-call tally recorded in transcript). Referenced in transcript at the time of the motion and vote. - Motion: Approve June and July meeting minutes with specified edits. Outcome: Approved (motion and second; unanimous aye). Referenced later in the meeting. - Motion: Adjourn meeting. Outcome: Approved.

"I've got pictures," a resident told commissioners when raising the mud-on-road complaint and offering time-stamped photographs to staff for follow-up. Justin Handy, identified in the meeting as the landfill manager, discussed operational observations on vulture activity and described planned trapping and capture steps that would precede euthanasia and coordination with nearby homeowners for property releases.

Commissioners directed staff to follow up on the legal summary of options with attorneys, to obtain a copy of the performance-bond amount from TDEC records (staff stated TDEC retains the original bond documentation; the amount discussed in the meeting was $25,000,000), and to return in September with updated materials and any easement proposals from Tennessee National.

The commission scheduled a vote on the partial-closure plan for Modules C and D (a partial-closure vote was listed for Sept. 18 in materials) and expected to receive additional tables showing updated tonnage/volumes and closure-sequence cost estimates in coming weeks.

Ending The commission’s operational work remains active and technical: staff and consultants projected several September milestones for slip-line completion, module liner installation and tank repairs while legal and commercial negotiations on closure sequencing, cost reimbursement and potential sales continue. Commissioners asked staff to compile the outstanding financial and engineering detail requested and to present those materials at the next meeting.