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WEIRTON - While operating solidification and stabilization activities for several years, the Brooke County Landfill recently had to obtain a Certificate of Need from the West Virginia Public Service Commission to fully comply with state laws.
In an order entered Aug. 11, the PSC approved a request from Valero Terrestrial Corp. for a Certificate of Need for the existing stabilization and solidification activities at the Brooke County Sanitary Landfill.
Valero applied for the certificate in March, the PSC notes, explaining that while the activities had previously been authorized, the company had been informed by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection that such activities "required a major permit modification."
PSC staff recommended the amendments in June, noting they "received no protests to the modification." The PSC also notes the change would not affect customer rates.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, stabilization and solidification are part of a group of cleanup methods "that prevent or slow the release of harmful chemicals from wastes, such as contaminated soil, sediment, and sludge."
While not destroying the contaminants, solidification keeps them from leaching above safe levels into the environment around the area.
"Solidification binds the waste in a solid block of material and traps it in place. This block is also less permeable to water than the waste. Stabilization causes a chemical reaction that makes contaminants less likely to be leached into the environment."
It typically involves mixing waste with a binding agent, such as cement, asphalt, fly ash or clay.
Stabilization follows similar methods, with binding agents also causing "a chemical reaction with contaminants to make them less likely to be released into the environment."
The PSC report notes that had the request been denied, it "would increase costs to local waste haulers by removing an existing option for disposing certain classes of waste and thereby increase the cost of important activities such as energy production and brownfield restoration."
The solidification and stabilization operations have been in place at the Brooke County Landfill since 2014.