Dive Summary:
- A former employee at Maryland-based Synagro, registered a complaint with the landfill on July 17 which stated that the company allegedly dumped sludge from various states to dispose of at Central Landfill in Johnston, Rhode Island; the landfill doesn’t accept waste from out-of-state.
- Landfill records indicate that in July, sludge was brought to the landfill instead of the usual ash, due to the Woonsocket plant undergoing repairs where the wastewater sludge is usually dumped, preventing it from being incinerated into ash.
- Regulators from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management are investigating a report from this alleged incident, sifting through documents exchanged between Resource Recovery and Synagro.
From the article:
In the… letter, Resource Recovery warned Synagro that dumping out-of-state waste at the landfill is illegal and violators are subject to a $50,000 fine.
Synagro responded, letting Resource Recovery know that it would comply with the ban on dumping of out-of-state waste, said Resource Recovery’s executive director, Michael J. OConnell.
Resource Recovery received 474 tons of solid waste from Synagro from July 1 through July 22… Synagro disposed of 1,200 tons of “sludge ash” at the landfill in June, Card said.
