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HomeMy WebLinkAbout27631 37-48 073 02-23-2022 ENFS DHB RESPONSE TO NOTICE OF VIOLATION L LaBella r--j powc'edoypw['Il r'nip February 23, 2022 Alabama Department of Environmental Management K4 ELECFRON/CMAIL Land Division - Solid Waste Branch sss@adem.alabama.gov P.O. Box 301463 Montgomery, AL 36130-1463 Attention: Mr. S. Scott Story, Chief Solid Waste Branch RE: Railyard Activity Update Big Sky Environmental, LLC Solid Waste Permit No. 37-48 Adamsville,Jefferson County, Alabama Dear Mr. Story: LaBelle Associates, D.P.C. (LaBelle) is providing this update on behalf of Big Sky Environmental, LLC (Big Sky) in response to your letter dated February 16, 2022. That letter was issued after a Notice of Violation (NOV) dated February 2, 2022, which required Big Sky to "...cease and desist the operation of the railyard for the transportation of waste materials until such time as the permit is appropriately modified." On February 3, 2022, LaBelle, on behalf of Big Sky, submitted an application to ADEM for a minor modification of the permit to authorize the receipt of solid waste at the landfill via the railyard. A follow up inspection of the landfill was conducted by ADEM personnel on February 15,2022. During that inspection, six railcars containing solid waste were documented as having been received at the Big Sky landfill on February 13, 2022. As explained by Big Sky personnel to the ADEM inspector and as documented in your letter,these cars had been in route to Big Sky prior to the issuance of the NOV. This statement is based on an email from the waste generator,Synagro, Rail (EPIC)sentto Big Sky on February 15. (See attached). Additionally, in an email dated February 18, EPIC stated that it would assist BigSky in gettingthese six railcars removed from the site and reaffirmed that other waste shipments enroute had been diverted. In your letter, you asked several questions related to the operation of the railyard. The responses to those questions are as follows: • Documentation of the type of material received via rail on February 13,2022, along with the name of the generator of said material, RESPONSE: As stated in the February 15, 2022, email referenced above, Environmental Protection and Improvement Company, LLC (EPIC), is Synagro's rail 528 Mineral.Trace I Hoover,AL 35244 1 P(205)985-4874 1 f(205)987-6080 www.LabeL[apc.com 0=1 transportation company and was the shipper of the six cars.As to the generator, since Big Sky has not and will not accept the waste in the railcars for disposal, the identity of the generator(s) is not known since Big Sky's internal procedure is to match special waste to the approved profile when the waste received is accepted for disposal. For reference, copies of the special waste approval letters for all potential generators are attached. • How the material has been or is planned to be managed at the facility, RESPONSE: As stated above, EPIC is currently working with Big Sky to remove the six railcars from the landfill site and divert them to another disposal facility. • Documentation of how and when each of the generators that send waste viarail to Big Sky were notified of the February 2nd NOV and cessation of operations of the railyard, RESPONSE: As documented in the EPIC email of February 15, Big Sky notified Synagro of the NOV's"cease and desist" requirement immediately upon its receipt and began working with EPIC to halt future shipments, pending the issuance of the permit modification • Documentation from the generator of the date and time of when the material in question was shipped to Big Sky, RESPONSE: Big Sky cannot match any documentation with rail cars that were not received or for the material in question since the Manifests/Bills of Lading that would have that information documented were sent back to the sh ipper with the rail cars that were rejected and redirection at ADEM's direction. • Documentation of how and when Big Sky was notified that the shipment from the generator was inbound, RESPONSE: Big Sky was notified of the "test run" initial shipment of rail cars via a phone call from the shipper. Cars from this shipper, EPIC, usually take a minimum of two to three weeks to arrive atthe landfill depending on weather/rail traffic issues. • A detailed timeline and route for the transportation of this material from the generator to the landfill (including any periods of "storage" or "temporary stoppage" of the material along the route),A list of other approved alternate disposal locations for this material from said generator that could have been utilized in light of the NOV and cessation of operation of the railyard, and RESPONSE: Big Sky has no control over waste material while in transit to its landfill, whether by rail or truck and is not privy to the requested information regarding the transportation route of the subject railcars from neither the shipper, EPIC, nor the railroad, BNSF Railway. Likewise, Big Sky has no knowledge of alternative disposal locations in Alabama or other states available to Synagro for the waste in the railcar containers. • Similar information for any additional shipments that may currently be in transit to the Big Sky facility(including anticipated date of receipt and steps that have been taken by Big Sky to divert shipment in order to comply with the current NOV). z 0=1 • A list of any other rail shipments of solid waste (including waste type and volume, generator, generator location, and anticipated arrival date) that are known or suspected to be currently enroute to Big Sky. RESPONSE: In answering both of these questions, as stated previously, Big Sky has been notified by the waste shipping company that any waste en route to Big Sky via rail has been diverted in response to the February 2 NOV. Big Sky has no reason to doubt the accuracy of EPIC's emailed statement. On a related matter, on February 14, 2022, LaBella received initial comments from your staff concerning the permit modification application and prepared a response in the form of revisions/clarifications to the Operations Plan. This application revision was submitted to ADEM by LaBella on behalf of Big Sky under separate cover on February 22. To date, neither Big Sky nor LaBella has received any additional comments from ADEM concerning the permit modification application, beyond the email communication on February 14. LaBella Associates, D.P.C., hopes this letter satisfactorily answers any questions you might have concerning this matter. If you have any questions concerning this submittal or require any additional information, please contact our office at(205) 985-4874. Respectfully submitted, LaBella Associates, D.P.C. William W. CoocT715.G. Phillip D. D vis, P.E Principal Geologist Director of Regulatory Affairs Attachments cc: Big Sky Environmental, LLC 3