Odor Control Plan & Procedures

If you are experiencing an odor issue, please call SPSA’s Odor Complaint Hotline at 757-417-5251.

The landfill gas collection system at the Regional Landfill consists of a gas collection wellfield that includes a series of extraction wells and trenches for landfill gas (LFG) collection. The LFG collection system is operated, maintained, and monitored by Biogas Energy Solutions (BES).

BES operates a LFG plant that is located at the landfill, where gas is treated by a series of filters, blowers, and dewatering units. The gas is then transmitted via pipeline to BASF Corporation, where it is used to fuel boilers to process steam. Any excess gas from the landfill is combusted in a flare at the BES plant. On a regular basis, BES monitors the system’s vacuum strength, gas flow, gas composition, and temperature.

Also, SPSA quarterly monitors gas probes located around the perimeter of the landfill to ensure that gas is not migrating through the soils and leaving the property. SPSA also performs quarterly surface emission monitoring to ensure that gas is not escaping the surface of the landfill and that the collection system is operating efficiently. If gas concentrations are detected in excess of regulatory thresholds, corrective actions are taken in cooperation with BES.

The average daily tonnage of waste accepted at the Regional Landfill during fiscal year 2022 was 1400 tons.

SPSA’s Odor Control Plan describes ways in which SPSA minimizes odor associated with Regional Landfill operations: – Frequent covering of waste: SPSA personnel cover the waste at the end of each operating day and cover highly putrescible wastes as soon as they are deposited in the landfill. -Odor Neutralizing System: The Landfill Superintendent or his designee will activate the landfill’s Odor Neutralizing System when odor is detected by landfill staff or the public beyond the property line or when the wind direction is toward surrounding residential areas as described in SPSA’s SOP 1.33.

The Landfill Manager or his designee will monitor wind direction on a daily basis. – Gas Collection System: SPSA’s landfill will operate and maintain a gas collection system that continually withdraws landfill gas from all landfill cells to be beneficially reused or flared. – Odor Response Plan: SPSA has a detailed Odor Response Plan to address odor complaints concerning any of its waste handling facilities. This plan is detailed in SOP 1.33. SPSA personnel have been trained on this procedure.

Leachate is the liquid that drains from a landfill or through waste materials and has extracted some component of the material through which it has passed. The Regional Landfill’s leachate system consists of a series of pipes that collect leachate at the bottom of the landfill above the landfill’s liner. The leachate is pumped from within the landfill to two lined leachate ponds located at the back of the landfill, where solids settle out of the leachate. Leachate is then discharged via pipeline to Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), where it is treated. SPSA regularly samples leachate prior to discharging to HRSD. Leachate is tested for metals, COD, BOD, phenolics, and toxic organics.

Odors that emanate from the landfill are typically from sulfides and ammonia that are present in landfill gas. Sulfides produce a rotten egg smell, and ammonia produces a pungent odor that you may recognize from household cleaners. Humans are able to detect the smell of hydrogen sulfide at very low levels. For more information, see Virginia DEQ’s Landfill Gases and Odors Fact Sheet.

VIRGINIA DEQ'S LANDFILL GASES AND ODORS FACT SHEET

The sanitary landfill is permitted to accept household and commercial municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris, and ash from the Wheelabrator Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) power plant.

If the landfill experiences odor issues, SPSA will do everything feasibly possible to eliminate the odor and will follow the guidelines of SPSA’s Odor Control Plan and SOP 1.33. However, due to the varying nature of waste and the multitude of factors that influence landfill odor, SPSA cannot give an exact timeline of when the odor will go away. SPSA takes odor issues very seriously and will make odor control the top priority should there be an odor issue.

If you do not get a response from SPSA’s hotline, you may contact SPSA’s Director of Operations, Henry Strickland, at 757-961-3582 or SPSA’s Executive Director, Dennis Bagley at 757-961-3487.

SPSA’s Regional Landfill and all of SPSA’s Transfer Stations are permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which inspects all of SPSA’s facilities on a regular basis. SPSA also has an Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit from Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), which inspects the landfill on a regular basis.

SPSA’s Regional Landfill accepts municipal solid waste, which contains organic material such as food and paper. As these wastes decompose within the landfill, gases are created that may cause unpleasant odors. The amount of these gases depends on waste type, age, moisture, and temperature. Weather conditions also impact the odors that leave the landfill’s boundary, including wind speed and direction. Unusually wet weather may increase the rate of decomposition and the amount of gas produced.