Ohio EPA to host meeting on landfill expansion

Landfill accepts municipal waste, C&D material and waste from the oil and gas sector.

The Ohio EPA will be holding a public information session in Amsterdam, Ohio, on Dec. 13, 2016, regarding the proposed expansion of the Apex Sanitary Landfill, which is located in Amsterdam. The information session will be immediately followed by a public hearing and will take place in Amsterdam.

The municipal solid waste landfill is owned and operated by Apex Environmental LLC (Apex), which is a subsidiary of the private equipment firm Prophet Equity Group.

According to Prophet Equity, Apex Environmental operates the 13th largest landfill in the United States. The landfill handles municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste as well as oil and gas waste from the nearby shale sites.

During the meeting, staff from the Ohio EPA will explain the permitting process and provide an overview of the permit application. The EPA also will respond to questions about the proposed lateral and vertical expansions and the proposed increase to the authorized maximum daily waste receipt (AMDWR).

In its draft permit, Apex is proposing to increase the landfill’s capacity by 61.1 million cubic yards within an additional 171 acres. If the application is approved, the landfill would have a total capacity of 83.6 million cubic yards within 288.5 acres. About 15.2 million cubic yards of capacity has already been filled within the developed 99.2 acres of the currently permitted 117.5 acres.

The landfill is currently permitted to accept 7,500 tons of waste per day. Apex also is seeking to increase the AMDWR to 10,000 tons per day. In 2015, the landfill’s average daily waste receipt was 1,877 tons. Since waste delivery by rail resumed in April 2016, the landfill’s daily waste receipt has averaged 3,694 tons.

Anyone may submit comments and/or request to be on a mailing list to receive notice regarding further action on the proposed permit-to-install application and draft permit by writing to: Ohio EPA, Division of Materials and Waste Management, Administrative Processing Unit, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049. To be considered as part of the public record, comments must be received by Dec. 20, 2016.