9701-20150417RES

FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section

UNIT TYPE:
Lined
MSWLF LCID YW Transfer Compost SLAS COUNTY: Wilkes
Closed
MSWLF X HHW White
goods Incin T&P FIRM PERMIT NO.: 97-01
CDLF Tire T&P /
Collection Tire
Monofill Industrial
Landfill DEMO SDTF FILE TYPE: COMPLIANCE

Date of Site Inspection: April 17, 2015 Date of Last Inspection: December 16, 2014

FACILITY NAME AND ADDRESS:
Wilkes County Landfill – Germantown Site
580 Poplar Grove Road
Wilkesboro, North Carolina 28697

GPS COORDINATES: N: 36.1162 W: 81.1985

FACILITY CONTACT NAME AND PHONE NUMBER:
Name: Kent Brandon, Solid Waste Director
Telephone: [phone] (o) or [phone]
Email address: [e-mail]

FACILITY CONTACT ADDRESS:
Post Office Box 389
Roaring River, North Carolina 28669

PARTICIPANTS:
Kent Brandon, Solid Waste Director
Andrea Van Wy, Solid Waste Supervisor
David Dillard, Landfill Supervisor
Charles Gerstell, NCDENR – Solid Waste Section

STATUS OF PERMIT:
A Closure Letter for the Wilkes County Landfill – Germantown Site was issued to Wilkes County on December 29,
1995.

PURPOSE OF SITE VISIT:
Partial Inspection

STATUS OF PAST NOTED VIOLATIONS:

15A North Carolina Administrative Code 13B .0510(c) states: “When a solid waste disposal site has been closed in
accordance with the requirements of the Division, future necessary maintenance and water quality monitoring shall be
the responsibility of the owner and the operator and shall be specified in the closure letter.”
x Post Closure Condition #1 of the Closure Letter dated December 29, 1995 states: “The owner shall take the
measures necessary to ensure that the closed site shall continue to meet the design standards for landfill gas
found in Rule .0503(2)(a).
x 15A North Carolina Administrative Code 13B .0503 (2)(a) states: “A site shall meet the following design
requirements:”

FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section
Page 2 of 3

a. The concentration of explosive gases generated by the site shall not exceed:
i. Twenty-five percent of the limit for the gases in site structures (excluding gas controller recover
system components); and
ii. the lower explosive limit for the gases at the property boundary;

A previous review of methane monitoring records verified that methane gas was recorded above the lower explosive
limit for methane at GP-1, also referred to as BP-1 during the following monitoring events: 4th Quarter 2012 (15.2%
Volume), 1st Quarter 2013 (5.4% Volume), 2nd Quarter 2013 (38.0% Volume), 3rd Quarter 2013 (41.0% Volume), 1st
Quarter 2014 (42.7% Volume), 3rd Quarter 2014 (31.6% Volume), and 4th Quarter 2014 (56.3% Volume). BP-1 is
located adjacent to the property boundary on the north side of the site.

Section 5.0 of the approved Landfill Gas Monitoring Plan for the facility requires that within 60-days of detection of
methane levels exceeding the LEL, the County will develop and implement a landfill gas remediation plan for the
combustible gas releases and notify the Division that the plan has been implemented. The plan will describe the nature
and extent of the problem and the proposed remedy. As of the dates of issuance of the previous inspection and Notice
of Violation, no landfill gas remediation plan had been submitted to the Division of Waste Management.

By exceeding the lower explosive limit for methane at the property boundary and failing to submit a landfill gas
remediation plan to the Division of Waste Management, Wilkes County was found in violation of 15A NCAC 13B
.0510(c) and 15A NCAC 13B .0503(2)(a)(ii).

To achieve compliance, Wilkes County was required to submit a landfill gas remediation plan to the Division of Waste
Management, Solid Waste Section within 30-days of receipt of the inspection report and accompanying the Notice of
Violation describing the nature and extent of the methane gas releases and a proposed remedy. The plan was to be
implemented within 60-days of receipt of the inspection report and accompanying Notice of Violation. The Division of
Waste Management, Solid Waste Section, was to be notified immediately afterward, in writing, that the plan had been
implemented.

A Landfill Gas Remediation Plan was submitted by Joyce Engineering on February 18, 2015 and approved by the Solid
Waste Section on February 23, 2015. The plan proposed to remove the cap from a nearby passive landfill gas vent and
install a solar powered turbine in its place thereby allowing more effective landfill gas venting.

Inspection of the facility on April 17, 2015 found that the solar powered turbine had been installed on the landfill gas
vent as proposed in the approved Landfill Gas Remediation Plan. Therefore, the above violations are considered
resolved. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

OBSERVED VIOLATIONS
None

The item(s) listed above were observed by Section staff and require action on behalf of the facility in order to come into or maintain compliance
with the Statutes, Rules, and/or other regulatory requirements applicable to this facility. Be advised that pursuant to N.C.G.S. 130A-22, an
administrative penalty of up to $15,000 per day may be assessed for each violation of the Solid Waste Laws, Regulations, Conditions of a Permit,
or Order under Article 9 of Chapter 130A of the N.C. General Statutes. Further, the facility and/or all responsible parties may also be subject to
enforcement actions including penalties, injunction from operation of a solid waste management facility or a solid waste collection service and
any such further relief as may be necessary to achieve compliance with the North Carolina Solid Waste Management Act and Rules.
FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section
Page 3 of 3

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

1. The facility ceased operations on October 7, 1993.
2. This inspection was performed to evaluate efforts to comply with the Notice of Violation issued to Wilkes
County on January 20, 2015. Please refer to “Status of Past Noted Violations” for comments.
3. Please submit written notification to Ervin Lane, Hydrogeologist, that the Landfill Gas Remediation Plan has
been implemented as required on the previous inspection report. This notification can be sent to
[e-mail] or:

Ervin Lane, Hydrogeologist
Division of Waste Management – Solid Waste Section
1646 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding this inspection report.

____________________________ Phone: [phone]
Charles T. Gerstell
Environmental Senior Specialist
Regional Representative

Sent on: 4/23/15 X Email Hand delivery US Mail Certified No.

Copies: Jason Watkins, Field Operations Branch Head
Deb Aja, Western District Supervisor
Jessica Montie, Compliance Officer

John Yates, County Manager ([e-mail])

Digitally signed by Charles T. Gerstell
DN: cn=Charles T. Gerstell, o=Division
of Waste Management, ou=Solid
Waste Section,
email=[e-mail],
c=US
Date: 2015.04.23 11:44:14 -04'00'