Carlsbad, New Mexico – The operator of a landfill in Carlsbad, New Mexico received an administrative compliance order and a fine of $1.3 million after accepting asbestos and other hazardous waste at the facility.

The Lea Land Inc. Landfill was issued the penalty and order by the New Mexico Environment Department. The waste disposal violations that prompted the penalty date back three years to 2005.

According to the New Mexico Environment Department the waste that was illegally accepted at the landfill included144 truckloads of regulated asbestos waste containing asbestos-cement siding, as well as 137 truckloads of hazardous waste, including coated lead-containing metal siding.

The Operations Plan, Disposal Management Plan and Waste Screening Plan of the Lea Land Inc. Landfill all state that asbestos and hazardous waste are not accepted at the site.

Other violations the landfill has been noted for include denying New Mexico Environment Department representatives access to the facility, failing to compact and cover solid waste properly, and failing to monitor groundwater as required.
The landfill is a disposal cell of around six acres. The cell is fitted with a removable synthetic liner that drains to a single point for leachate collection. This makes groundwater monitoring very important as it provides information on the integrity of the cell liner. Any signs of leachate in groundwater at the site would be a strong indication that there may have been a breach in the cell liner.

The Solid Waste Bureau discovered the Lea Land Inc. violations after a citizen made allegations about illegal asbestos disposal at the site.

Upon investigation the Solid Waste Bureau discovered that the asbestos and hazardous waste had come from several demolished facilities owned by Intrepid Potash New Mexico LLC. The waste materials had been removed and disposed of by Vanco Insulation Abatement Inc. and Tripod Inc., respectively.

Jim Norton, director of the Environmental Protection Division, said that landfill workers and managers had violated the solid waste regulations that had been designed to protect both local residents and the environment.

Lea Land Inc. has been ordered to cap its current disposal cell and pay the civil penalty of $1.3 million. The company has thirty days in which it can request a hearing and submit a response to the New Mexico Environment Department.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 4:30 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, New Mexico. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.