The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has fined Phoenix Resources Inc. $27,428 for numerous violations discovered at its construction/demolition waste landfill in Duncan Township, PA, Regional Director Robert Yowell said.
“The violations DEP discovered during our inspection in May were not routine, and they did cause harm to the environment,” Yowell said. “We expect Phoenix Resources to do a much better job of operating this landfill in the future.”
DEP staff inspected the landfill twice in May. During the first inspection, a number of leachate outbreaks were discovered, with leachate flowing across the landfill’s access road into a sedimentation trap.
During the second inspection two days later, DEP staff found violations of the landfill’s operations plan for obtaining soil from more than a three-acre plot at one time; for constructing a riprap channel without first obtaining a permit modification; for discharging sediment-laden runoff water from the soil borrow area to an off-site stream; for surface water runoff causing sediment to be deposited off-site in an area east of a sedimentation pond; and for the leachate flows discovered two days earlier.
The fine was paid to the Solid Waste Abatement Fund, which is used to address the improper management of solid wastes. The fund is an important financial resource for emergency cleanups.
Phoenix Resources Inc. is owned and operated by Waste Management Inc.