Johnston landfill again subject of legal dispute

GOOD NEIGHBOR? Johnston homeowner Bob Sandberg lives less than a mile from the landfill and has been happy with its operation recently. / PBN PHTO/TRACY JENKINS
GOOD NEIGHBOR? Johnston homeowner Bob Sandberg lives less than a mile from the landfill and has been happy with its operation recently. / PBN PHTO/TRACY JENKINS

A lawsuit filed last month by the Conservation Law Foundation against the owners and operators of the Central Landfill in Johnston for violations of the Clean Air Act is the latest chapter in the volatile history of an operation that by its very nature triggers controversy.
Though resident complaints have been limited in recent months, one longstanding concern of homeowners who live even a few miles from Rhode Island’s only landfill is whether odors, traffic and potentially hazardous emissions into the air or toxins that may have seeped into the ground, even from dumping years before regulations got stricter, impact the value of their property.
Bob Sandberg has lived about half-a-mile from the landfill on Peck Hill Road since 1965 and has kept a close watch on issues.
“It’s been pretty doggone good lately. I have no complaints recently,” said Sandberg. “Obviously they’ve been working on things … and I think they’re taking care of it pretty well now.”
Any odors from the landfill depend on where you live, and the wind doesn’t generally blow the odor toward his house, said Sandberg.
As far as the value of his home, Sandberg isn’t planning to sell, so he hasn’t had to test the real estate market.
In the lawsuit filed in federal court by the Conservation Law Foundation on Dec. 16, Rhode Island LFG Genco, Broadrock Gas Services and the quasi-public R.I. Resource Recovery Corporation are charged with failing to adequately collect gas, failing to operate gas-combustion equipment properly, violating conditions in existing permits and failing to obtain a required operating permit.
“The bottom line is you have pollution coming off the landfill,” said Tricia K. Jedele, vice president and director of the foundation’s Rhode Island office. “You have an inadequate gas-collection system, so it’s failing. The wells are flooded and not operating properly. They’re using combustion equipment inappropriately. The result is we have a lot of emissions of nasty stuff like benzene, hydrogen sulfide, which is the smell like rotten eggs, methane and sulfur dioxide that create serious public health threats.” The owners of the landfill disagree.
“Broadrock has made a substantial commitment to Rhode Island by investing in and developing one of the most technologically advanced landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the country,” Broadrock spokesman Bill Fischer said in an email to Providence Business News. “The new facility efficiently converts landfill gas to clean renewable electricity. … Broadrock is currently engaged in a process to identify and engage a third-party vendor to operate and maintain the gas-collection system as called for in the settlement agreement with the town of Johnston,” said Fischer, who declined further comment on the lawsuit.
A previous lawsuit filed against Broadrock Gas Services by the town of Johnston mainly about odors from the landfill resulted in a settlement, with the town receiving a $3 million payment last year. Part of that agreement was to hire an independent party to manage the gas-capture operations at the landfill.
Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena said earlier this month he hadn’t heard whether the independent management company had been hired.
“We are skeptical about the independence of any contractor that might be brought in to manage the gas systems,” said foundation attorney Max Greene. He said the group has talked with town officials and the state Department of Environmental Management about its concerns.
Polisena said that since the settlement with Broadrock in September, he hasn’t heard any major complaints about the landfill.
“We had an issue one day about a faint order, and they shut down one of the burners,” said Polisena. “They squared that away.”
As for property values, Polisena doesn’t think the landfill is having any negative impact because development in the town is happening at a steady pace. “We’ve had $650 million in new business investments since 2007,” said Polisena. “We have a group now that’s presenting a proposal to the planning board for a 55-and-older complex.”
Those who complain about property values or trouble selling their homes in Johnston may be asking too high a price for the market, which is down in many places, said Polisena.
Concerns about the Johnston landfill, mostly complaints, land in cyberspace on the Facebook page CANT, or Citizens Against Neighborhood Toxins. Some who posted comments on the Facebook site declined to comment publicly when contacted by PBN.
One property owner declined to give a name, despite long-time complaints about the landfill and a property assessment that’s gone down about $30,000 in about 10 years because of “fear of retribution” from town politicians.
Polisena called that fear of retribution “nonsense.”
One person happy with her home in Johnston is Cindy Sutherland, who bought a house on Bishop Hill Road a couple of years ago she figures is “probably a few miles from the landfill,” on the western end of the town.
“My husband and I are from Woonsocket, and we knew there was a landfill in Johnston, but we never smelled it and didn’t know they were having any issues with it,” said Sutherland. “We bought our house at fair market value, and I don’t think the landfill has affected our property values. This is a wonderful neighborhood.”
Michael OConnell, executive director of the Resource Recovery Corporation, said, “We’re going to contest the lawsuit,” but added he couldn’t address the complaints.
A power plant on the landfill generates energy from the gases and sells the energy to National Grid.
OConnell said RIRRC operates the landfill, “but our expertise is not in power generation. That’s Broadrock. They’re the owner and operator, and we’re the permit holder with the regulatory agency.” That agency is the R.I. Department of Environmental Management. •

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