Debating the landfill

FLORENCE - Trudging through the woods across from the city's landfill, Charles Rose hacks at a series of curling branches before pushing himself over a log neither high nor low enough to get around with ease.

He continues on, pressing his walking pole into the ground to maintain his balance, which is being tested by a steep incline littered with slick leaves.

It is worth the annoyance, the 59-year-old says.

At the end of this trek is a spring where the water flows brown, permanently staining nearby vegetation and wearing away at the rocks in its path.

When Ram Spring - one of seven such springs in a 1,000-foot band of Cypress Creek - is finally reached, Rose squats and points to tawny, slimy water seeping out of the ground. This, he claims, is evidence of pollution finding its way into the creek via groundwater from Florence's municipal landfill.

"I've canoed 12 miles up and down this creek for years," said the president of Shoals Environmental Alliance. "Yet, this is the only place where you see this type of discoloration; well, here and where the old city landfill used to be. Why aren't we seeing it anywhere else?"

He and fellow environmental advocate David Cope, a University of North Alabama math professor, pointed to independent testing they requested at Ram Spring this year, performed by National Testing Laboratories, as evidence for a direct relationship between the creek and landfill.

The results show elevated levels of iron and manganese, which they believe is evidence of leachate - liquid leaking from a dump.

These elements are not toxins, according to Environmental Protection Agency drinking water regulations. Rather, they are considered secondary substances, elements that contribute to more cosmetic issues, such as poor-tasting and -smelling water.

But the men believe it's potentially an indication of more hazardous materials.

"Whether it's dangerous to drink is an open question," Cope said. "It's dependent on what is at the landfill."

They say leachate is dissolving deposits of iron and manganese that occur naturally in aquifers, which accounts for the jarring discoloration set against the otherwise picturesque Cypress Creek.

The high iron level is not disputed by sanitation officials, but its cause is.

David Koonce, the city's street, solid waste and recycling manager, does not believe anything is leaking out of the landfill.

He said the disposal area contains two upgradient wells and five downgradient wells, positioned to intercept groundwater.

They were placed at those locations, according to Alabama Department of Environmental Management standards. And he added the latest testing in September was consistent with state-mandated standards.

Furthermore, he said the city hired a geologist from Highland Technical Services, of Birmingham, to test a spring downstream from a sewer line that crosses the creek - he wasn't sure if it was Ram Spring - who saw no evidence of leachate.

"Groundwater is a very difficult thing to understand," Koonce said. "When you look at groundwater, there are more possible contributors to it than just the landfill. There were industrial gas stations in that area and other historical dumping that has gone on that is not controlled by the city."

But Cope says city officials can't make such claims until they test all the disputed springs.

When asked if he believed the city should be testing them, Koonce said, "That's an ADEM question. I'm very comfortable we're in compliance with what we're supposed to be doing."

ADEM, responding to the complaints, visited the springs last week to conduct testing. It is unknown when its report will be completed.

"We did have some of our geologists there to conduct an assessment," said Scott Hughes, ADEM spokesman. "All I can say is they are evaluating all the data and information they collected."

At the least, Rose thinks the city should be required to test the springs, as they do the ground wells and other parts of the landfill.

And all of this, coincidentally, is set against the backdrop of a potential expansion of the landfill. Last week, the owners of the Florence Golf and Country Club approved a more than $2 million offer by the city to acquire the 157-acre property adjacent to the landfill and Cypress Creek.

The deal requires approval by the City Council, and the city would need to secure a permit from ADEM to operate the site as a landfill.

Because he was not familiar with the specifics of the arrangement, Hughes spoke in more general terms about landfill permits.

"When we issue a permit for a landfill, there is a specific footprint that is associated with that permit," he said. "If they want to expand outside that original footprint, they would need a permit."

Landfill standards were established by Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in 1991. The legislation gives permit-issuing power to state and local governments.

Under such rules, landfills must have safeguards, such as impermeable liners, groundwater monitoring wells and leachate collection systems. He added that any landfill facility must be "operated so there is no environmental impact."

Despite insistence by city officials to the contrary, at least one groundwater expert is convinced the landfill is harming the area.

In the 1980s, hydrogeologist Tom Aley conducted tests on the limestone at Savannah Highway and Waterloo Road, the site of the landfill.

And he predicted - even then - leachate would make its way into Ram Spring.

He placed fluorescent-traced dye at the site, which he said flowed into Ram Spring, proving the area contributes water to the spring.

A preponderance of evidence - acidic water and elevated concentrations of iron and manganese - point to leachate, he believes.

"Let me put it this way," said Aley, president and senior hydrogeologist of Ozark Underground Laboratory in Missouri. "What the data show is strong evidence that the landfill is leaking. It says you need to fix something."

He said monitoring wells are not always accurate predictors of groundwater contamination because they don't necessarily catch the material flowing through conduits in bedrock of limestone.

And what about landfill expansion?

"It's a bad idea," Aley said. "That's not a good site. The landfill is there because it is close to town and convenient - not because it's a good site. We need to put landfills in areas where the waste is going to stay there."

Brian Hughes can be reached at 740-5720 or brian.hughes@TimesDaily.com.