Expansion of East End Landfill in Henrico opposed

East End Landfill in Henrico County wants to quadruple the amount of construction and demolition debris allowed daily at its Darbytown Road operation, but the company is meeting opposition from neighbors and local officials.

Protesters point to a $110,000 fine last summer by the state Department of Environmental Quality and a recent stop-work order by Henrico as two reasons that the landfill should not be allowed to increase its volume.

"I've been to the landfill and seen the operation," said Eric Leabough, who lives in the Midview Farms subdivision, about a mile from the landfill. "The mud -- when it rains, it's just a mud path for a good 300 or 400 feet outside the entrance. The truck traffic is horrendous on a daily basis."

Mud was the reason for the stop-work order at the end of last month.

"We got several phone calls about mud on the road. Supposedly their equipment was broken and they couldn't clean it up," said Varina District Supervisor James B. Donati Jr. "We went there with our equipment to get it up and sent them a bill for it."

The cost for the cleanup was $913 and change.

Mathew P. Appelget, president of East End Landfill LLC, said the muddy road was caused by sediment being tracked offsite on a rainy day. "The county's concerns have been addressed," he said. "The landfill will be adding 1,000 feet of pavement to prevent the future possibility of sedimentation on Darbytown Road."

A wheel wash to rinse mud from trucks also has been added.

The landfill also is seeking approval to move its entrance nearly a mile east to Fergus Boulevard, which would help keep dirt as well as traffic off Darbytown Road. Trucks coming from Laburnum Avenue to Fergus Boulevard would have to travel less than a mile on the two-lane portion of Darbytown Road before they turned off.

Donati and state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, have written DEQ to oppose the landfill expansion.

The landfill can currently accept a maximum of 900 tons of waste per day. The proposed modifications would allow up to 3,500 tons of waste per day and increase the capacity by about 25 percent to 2.6 million cubic yards.

"I seriously question the need to increase the capacity of this facility," Donati said at a public hearing last month, noting that DEQ modified the permit last year to increase the land area by 5 acres and capacity by 537,000 cubic yards.

"What has changed so dramatically to justify a request to increase the capacity in one year?" he asked. "This is astounding, particularly when you consider the current state of the economy and its impact on the construction industry."

Appelget said the expansion permit is being requested now because "these types of permits take years to get. It takes 24 to 36 months to complete an expansion. Obviously, our hope is that the construction industry would become more robust. That's probably in line with what the county and city would like as well."

The public hearing at Varina High School last month brought out neighbors to complain about truck traffic, dust, mud, odors, sight lines and previous permit violations.

Richard Weeks, DEQ chief deputy, described the violations as small but numerous. "Some of them were things they could have gotten permission to do but didn't before they undertook them," Weeks said in an interview. "The penalty was large because there was a large number of violations, none of them that serious."

About 1,000 homes south of Darbytown Road are affected by operations at the East End Landfill. Most of the homes have been built since the landfill got an operating permit in 1988.

The Charles City Road Public Use Area, which accepts household trash from county residents, also is close enough that odors sometimes travel south of Darbytown.

Landfill supporters at the public hearing included people who work there and people who use the site. They pointed out that the landfill recycles many materials to reduce the amount of waste.

Appelget noted in an interview that a landscaped berm soon will shield the site from Darbytown Road. The 10-foot earthen mound will be topped with an 8-foot fence and 8to 10-foot Leyland cypress trees.

The landfill also requested a variance to accept soils contaminated with petroleum or other nonhazardous materials. DEQ granted the variance last week, but Henrico also must give approval.

The Henrico Board of Zoning Appeals recently denied a different expansion request from the landfill, which would have allowed one part of the operation to edge closer to Darbytown Road.

DEQ will prepare a response to comments from the public hearing and expects to make a ruling on the revised permit within two weeks, Weeks said.

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or kcalos@timesdispatch.com.