Iowa City reaches settlement with EPA over landfill violations

IOWA CITY - The city of Iowa City has agreed to pay a fine and spend more than $2.1 million for upgrades as part of a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency related to Clean Air Act violations at the city's landfill.

As part of the agreement, announced Monday by the EPA, the city is to pay an $8,225 civil penalty. It also plans to invest $109,000 for a Supplemental Environmental Project in the form of thermal imaging capability and $2 million to aid in future compliance with EPA regulations.

David Bryan, a spokesman for the EPA, said the city failed to properly monitor its gas collection wells and then did not properly follow up on the situation.

He said the wells, which collect the gas that comes off the landfill, exceeded proper oxygen and pressure levels. He said this is dangerous because proper well monitoring is used as a way to detect potential sources of fire before it occurs.

City officials have agreed to purchase four cameras with thermal imaging capability to monitor the heat of loads in trucks going to the landfill, as well the landfill itself. The goal is early detection of any area of the landfill that reaches a temperature that could trigger a fire. The city also agreed to create a landfill fire risk management plan to provide emergency training for city staff, like members of the police and fire departments.

Iowa City officials also agreed to develop standard operating procedures that require employees to monitor the wells each month, as well as provide an electronic portal so EPA staff can monitors the wells.

'That's the biggest thing, making sure at these landfill sites they have a plan, they know what the risks are and they establish they know what to do in the event of a problem,” Bryan said.

The EPA discovered the violations during a July 15, 2014, facility inspection and subsequent investigation of the landfill. The inspection was triggered when the EPA reviewed the landfill's semiannual report, which caused concerns, Bryan said in an email statement.

Bryan said report reviews, odor complaints or citizen complaints can all trigger an EPA investigation at a landfill.

Chris O'Brien, the city's director of transportation services, said that while he didn't have his current position at the time, much of the issue was with late follow up documentation after the landfill discovered the wells didn't meet the guidelines. He said a new landfill consultant and document clarifications have alleviated the problems that led to the investigation.

O'Brien said a majority of the work outlined in the settlement has already been completed. He said Iowa City is close to a final draft and performing the emergency training component of the fire risk plan.

A well expansion project is planned this summer, during which time the thermal cameras are to be installed.

O'Brien said he expects most of the mandates to be completed by the fall.

The violations aren't the first time the landfill has experienced issues with fire hazards. A May 2012 fire burned for weeks and caused $3.4 million in damage to the landfill.

Bryan said in the email statement that although inspectors knew about the 2012 fire, it did not lead to the investigation.