Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Landfill Investigation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Swain County suspends landfill site operations pending DEQ probe into alleged petroleum dumping
Summary
Swain County reported allegations of petroleum-type dumping at a county landfill, has notified the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Environmental Quality, and has suspended operations at the affected area while DEQ conducts testing.
Swain County officials said Tuesday they have suspended operations at a portion of the county landfill after allegations that petroleum-based materials were dumped there. County staff reported the allegation to the U.S. Forest Service and sought DEQ testing to determine whether contamination occurred.
"We reported the forest service as a landowner and met with the representative... He recommended that we contact DEQ, and we did. And they are gonna conduct an investigation," the county manager said, announcing that the county has closed the dump area to avoid disturbing potential evidence.
The manager said the decision to pause landfill activity at the specific area was intended to prevent routine cover and compaction operations from contaminating the site and complicating DEQ's work. "We close the dump until the investigation is completed because we are currently dumping brush over the spot and requirements to the landfill would further complicate the DEQ's job of investigating the allegations," the manager said.
County officials said they initiated the report after receiving multiple, differing accounts and stressed that the investigation is ongoing. The manager said the county has provided preliminary reports to investigators and will share results when testing is complete.
Next steps: DEQ will conduct testing at the site and the county will await those results before resuming normal operations at the affected area; the county manager said the board will be updated when DEQ's findings are available.
