All News Releases By Date

Sarpy County, Neb., Landfill to Perform Diesel Retrofits, Pay $10,080 Penalty to Resolve Issues over Proper Air Permit

Release Date: 08/03/2010
Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, [email protected]


Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., August 3, 2010) - The Sarpy County, Neb., Sanitary Landfill has agreed to pay a $10,080 civil penalty, and will spend an additional $34,218 on heavy equipment improvements designed to reduce harmful diesel engine emissions, to settle allegations that it failed to make a timely application for a proper environmental permit following the landfill’s expansion in 2005.

According to an administrative consent agreement filed today in Kansas City, Kan., the municipal solid waste landfill at 14414 S. 156^th Street in Springfield, Neb., violated the federal Clean Air Act when it failed to apply for a Title V operating permit from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) within 15 months of its 2005 expansion.

The Title V permit is an important component of the landfill’s compliance with the Clean Air Act because it consolidates all of the facility’s air pollution control requirements into a single comprehensive operating permit that covers all aspects of its year-to-year air pollution.

EPA Region 7 conducted an inspection of the landfill in March 2009 and discovered that the facility had not applied for a Title V permit within the required timeframe after its expansion. Soon after the inspection, in April 2009, Sarpy County Sanitary Landfill submitted a permit application to NDEQ. The application was determined to be complete in June 2009. It remains under review by NDEQ.

In addition to paying a $10,080 civil penalty to the United States, the landfill has agreed to perform a supplemental environmental project involving diesel retrofits on seven pieces of its heavy equipment, including a bulldozer, waste grinder, two scrapers, and three landfill compactors.

That project, with an estimated cost of $34,218, is expected to result in sizeable reductions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and particulate matter emissions from the landfill’s operating equipment, and provide increased protection of the environment and human health in the surrounding community.

“EPA greatly appreciates Sarpy County Sanitary Landfill’s quick response to correct its permit status and achieve compliance with the Clean Air Act,” EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks said. “That action, along with the diesel retrofits outlined in the supplemental environmental project, represents a positive step toward better air quality for residents of Sarpy County.”