The Bristol Virginia City Council is poised to authorize spending an additional $7 million for dirt and services for its embattled landfill. The council is expected to enter into contracts, totaling about $6.8 million, with two local firms to provide three different types of soil to be delivered and applied to parts of the landfill. A separate action would pay for $400,000 worth of work recently performed at the Shakesville Road quarry landfill. “This is for different projects going on within the landfill,” City Manager Randy Eads said. “We may not need as much dirt as we’ve asked for, or we many need more. The majority of this dirt will go toward the sidewall odor mitigation system.”
Addressing gaps in the sidewall liner was among 10 recommendations by an expert panel assembled by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to address widespread public concern over odors stemming from the landfill. This is not related to the “intermediate cover” dirt that was recently applied atop the waste mass.
Some of the dirt will be used to cap and close the older city landfill which is adjacent to the current landfill, Eads said. “Part of that dirt will go to landfill 498 [old landfill] for final closure,” Eads said. “That landfill has dirt on it, but we need to add the final cap. We have to make sure we have the best drainage possible for that landfill as we close it.”