Groundwater monitoring at closed landfill

Groundwater monitoring has been taking place at a now closed landfill near Walhalla as long ago as the 1980s, but a question that arose during a public information meeting sponsored last night by Oconee Solid Waste was whether any contaminants have been detected to the extent that Walhalla water supply could be affected.  Geologist Kevin Anderson responded this way:  “The information that we have is it doesn’t suggest that we have impacts going off-site that would impact groundwater quality.”  Anderson of the North Carolina engineering company Smith and Gardner, along with project engineer Kate Drafts and Oconee solid Waste Director Swain Still, conducted last night’s meeting attended by a half dozen interested individuals.  Until 1995, the Five Forks Landfill accepted domestic and industrial waste.  And though groundwater has been impacted, data show, according to the Smith and Gardner representatives, that concentrations of contaminants are stable in most wells.  Monitoring will continue, and Anderson indicated his company likely will recommend a monitored natural attenuation technology as a remediation strategy.  A handout at last night’s meeting reads:  “It is recommended that the site continue to be monitored for groundwater impacts.  In the event that the level of contaminants begins to trend upwards, further evaluation will be necessary.  However, given the historical data and typical results of natural attenuation, it is not anticipated that contaminant levels will rise.”