The Missouri Department of Natural Resources said Republic Services Inc.’s contingency plan for the smoldering fire at the Bridgeton Landfill contains “significant deficiencies.â€
The 425-page , which lays out additional steps to halt the fire’s spread north toward radioactive material buried at West Lake Landfill, was filed by Republic last month. It was required under a court-approved agreement with Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, who sued the company in March for violating state environmental laws.
In a to the company on Wednesday, DNR said the plan was incomplete, wasn’t signed by a professional engineer, and it “includes unacceptable trigger criteria and time frames for completion of work and overall lacks sufficient detail/clarity.â€
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The department cited analysis of the plan by its consultants Todd Thalhamer, a California engineer and firefighter, and Timothy Stark, an engineer and professor at the University of Illinois.
“The draft plan fails to provide options that prevent or mitigate the long-term impacts that would be felt by the community should the (smoldering event) pass through the neck and enter into the North Quarry,†they said in a July 22 to DNR.
In its , DNR said trigger values proposed by Republic to determine movement of the subsurface fire were “unacceptable,†and raised the need for additional temperature monitoring probes and questioned monitoring criteria.
The department also questioned Republic’s plans for an isolation barrier to keep the overheated waste mass from reaching West Lake Landfill, and whether the proposed location would involve excavation of any radiologically affected material.
Republic was asked to submit a revised plan within 20 days.
Koster also sent Republic a letter saying he would seek to force the company to comply with DNR’s request if it didn’t respond.
A Republic spokesman said the company didn’t have an immediate response.