8606_INSP_20221012

FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section

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UNIT TYPE:
Lined
MSWLF X LCID X YW Transfer Compost SLAS COUNTY: Surry
Closed
MSWLF HHW White
goods X Incin T&P FIRM PERMIT NO.: 8606-MSWLF-1998
CDLF Tire T&P / Collection X Tire Monofill Industrial Landfill DEMO SDTF FILE TYPE: COMPLIANCE

Date of Site Inspection: October 12, 2022 Date of Last Inspection: February 16, 2022

FACILITY NAME AND ADDRESS:
Surry County Municipal Solid Waste Landfill
237 Landfill Road
Mount Airy, North Carolina 27030

GPS COORDINATES (decimal degrees): Lat.: 36.43185 Long.: -80.57530

FACILITY CONTACT NAME AND PHONE NUMBER:
Name: Jessica Montgomery, Public Works Director/County Engineer
Telephone: [phone]
Email address: [e-mail]

FACILITY CONTACT ADDRESS:
Post Office Box 342
Dobson, North Carolina 27107

PARTICIPANTS:
Ricky Hawks, Public Works Office Coordinator – Surry County
Billy Southard, Landfill Coordinator – Surry County
Charles Gerstell, NCDEQ – Solid Waste Section

STATUS OF PERMIT:
A Permit Approval To Operate 8606-MSWLF-1998 MSW Landfill Phases 1, 2, 3 & 4 and 8606-LCID-2020 Land
Clearing and Inert Debris Landfill and Permit for Closure for 8602-MSWLF-1983 (Mt. Airy), 8602-CDLF- (Mt. Airy),
and 8602-CDLF-2011 (Mt. Airy) was issued to Surry County on December 16, 2020.

PURPOSE OF SITE VISIT:
Comprehensive Inspection

STATUS OF PAST NOTED VIOLATIONS:
N/A

OBSERVED VIOLATIONS:

15A North Carolina Administrative Code 13B .0203(d) states: “By receiving solid waste at a permitted facility, the
permittee shall be considered by the Department to have accepted the conditions of the permit and shall comply with the
conditions of the permit.”

General Facility Permit Condition #13 of the Permit Approval to Operate states: “Landfill gas monitoring wells and
on-site structures must be sampled for explosive gasses at least quarterly in accordance with the approved plans and
current policies and guidelines of the Section in effect at the time of sampling.”

FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section

Page 2 of 4

General Facility Permit Condition #23 of the Permit Approval to Operate states: “A landfill gas monitoring event
must include monitoring for all explosive gases and must be conducted at the facility including interior monitoring
of on-site structures in accordance with the approved landfill gas monitoring plan and current Rules, policies and
guidelines of the Section in effect at the time of sampling. Any proposed modification to an approved plan must be
submitted to the Section Hydrogeologist for a review and approved prior to implementation.”

The Landfill Gas Monitoring Plan prepared by Municipal Engineering Services Company May 9, 2018 and revised on
July 12, 2018 is included within the documents that constitute the Approved Plan for the facility. The Landfill Gas
Monitoring Plan states landfill gas probes MP-L1 and MP-L2 are to be monitored on a quarterly basis.

A review of methane monitoring records found MP-L1 was not monitored as required during the last two quarterly
sampling events performed on July 28, 2022 and October 3, 2022. The Landfill Gas Monitoring Data Form showed the
gas probe was not sampled as it was found to be “Inaccessible”.

Upon request for information via e-mail on October 13, 2022, Mr. Seth Rickerts, Project Geologist, with Smith – Gardner
stated during the last two sampling events, the environmental technicians had been unable to locate gas probe MP-L1 and
believe it may have been damaged or buried. Mr. Rickerts stated he would be on-site later in the quarter to resample for
some groundwater parameters due to lab issues and would visit MP-L1 with Ricky Hawks to get a direct visual on where
the probe is or if it is in fact damaged.

Surry County is in violation of 15A NCAC 13B .0203(d) and General Facility Permit Conditions #13 and #23 for
failure to sample all methane gas probes as detailed in the facility’s approved Methane Monitoring Plan.

To achieve compliance, within 60-days of issuance of this inspection report, Surry County must verify the status of
MP-L1, and all findings must be submitted to the Solid Waste Section for review. If MP-L1 is found be damaged
or missing, steps to repair or replace the gas probe and a timeline to complete those actions must also be provided.
All information should be submitted electronically to:

Jaclynne Drummond, Hydrogeologist
[e-mail]
[phone]

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

1. The facility consists of a lined municipal solid waste landfill unit, white goods area, tire collection area, a land
clearing and inert debris landfill unit, and a recycling area for the collection of paper, cardboard, glass and plastic
containers, aluminum, steel cans, batteries, cooking oil and electronics.
2. The facility is permitted to receive waste generated within a 90-mile radius of Surry County.
3. Scrap metal is collected adjacent to the concrete pad designated for the collection of white goods.
4. A gate was provided at the entrance of the facility to prevent unauthorized access.
5. The facility had proper signage.

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

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Records Review:

6. The Permit to Operate and Operations Plan were verified. Both documents were current and available upon
request.
7. Facility tonnage reports were verified for July 2021 through September 2022. The MSW landfill received
approximately 238-tons of waste each operating day during this time. The LCID Unit received 1,739.55-tons of
waste during this time.
8. Groundwater monitoring was being performed semiannually as required. 1st semiannual sampling results for 2021
(performed June 22 – 25, 2021), 2nd semiannual sampling results for 2021 (performed October 18 – 21, 2021) and
1st semiannual sampling results for 2022 (performed April 4 – 6, 2022) were verified via the Division of Waste
Management document database.
9. Leachate sampling was being performed semiannually as required. Sampling was performed concurrently with
groundwater monitoring.
10. Methane monitoring was being performed quarterly as required. However, MP-L1 was not monitored as required
during the last two quarterly sampling events performed on July 28, 2022 and October 3, 2022. Please see
“Observed Violations” for comments. Records were verified for sampling events performed on 2/23/21, 6/25/21,
10/19/21, 1/18/22, 4/4/22, 7/28/22, and10/3/22.
11. Waste screening reports were verified for January 2022 through September 2022. Screenings were performed with
adequate frequency and provided good documentation of observed unacceptable waste streams and final
disposition of those wastes.
12. MOLO Certifications:
x Ricky Hawks (expires 6/15/25)
x Jessica Montgomery (expires 6/11/23)
x Billy Southard (expires 9/25/25)
13. Landfill Operations Specialist Certifications:
x Justin Collins (expires 11/30/24)
x Varney Helvey (expires 1/19/25)
x Zarek Holt (expires 9/26/24)
x John McClintock (expires 1/19/25)
x Tim Shores (expires 3/20/24)
x Donald Smith (expires 11/12/25)
x James McKinley Walsh (expires 11/12/25)

Operations Inspection of the MSWLF Unit:

14. At the time of inspection, waste was being placed in the northeast portion of Phase 4
15. The working face was very small and compact.
16. No unacceptable waste streams were observed.
17. Soil cover had been applied to all inactive portions of the landfill. The north facing slope just above the access
road had been seeded with good germination of seed.
18. It appeared that efforts to stabilize the west facing slopes of phase 4 above the working face had failed as
vegetation had died. Please continue efforts to stabilize all inactive areas with a groundcover sufficient to restrain
erosion.
19. No windblown waste was observed.
20. Edge-of-waste markers were in place around the landfill.
21. Access roads were of all-weather construction and well maintained.

Operations Inspection of the White Goods Area:

22. All white goods were being collected on a concrete pad adjacent to the scrap metal staging area.
23. All appliances containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were maintained in an upright condition.
24. This area was well managed.
FACILITY COMPLIANCE INSPECTION REPORT
Division of Waste Management
Solid Waste Section

Page 4 of 4

Operations Inspection of the Tire Collection Area:

25. Tires are placed in a 40-yard roll-off container which is covered by a tarp. Once full, facility staff haul the tires to
the tire vendor.
26. All tires were maintained to the designated container at the time of inspection.
27. This area was well managed.

Operations Inspection of the LCID Unit:

28. The working face was less than one acre in size at the time of inspection.
29. Majority of waste was covered with soil.
30. No unacceptable waste streams were observed.

Supporting Comments:

31. The leachate pond was observed during the inspection.
x No concerns were observed with the visible portions of the liner.
x The gate allowing access to the leachate pond was locked.
x Please ensure tall vegetation around the pond is mowed.
32. The previous inspection report requested a revised Operations Plan be submitted to the Solid Waste Section for
review detailing the wood grinding operation located just north of Phase 4 of the MSWLF Unit. A revised
Operations Plan was received by the Solid Waste Section on June 7, 2022 and is currently under review. Thank
you for your attention to this matter.

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: 10/20/22 X Email Hand delivery US Mail Certified No. [ _]

Copies: Deb Aja, Western District Supervisor - Solid Waste Section
Digitally signed by Charles T. Gerstell
DN: cn=Charles T. Gerstell, o=Divsion of Waste
Management, ou=Solid Waste Section,
email=[e-mail], c=US
Date: 2022.10.20 11:08:09 -04'00'