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The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Waste Corporation of Arkansas, LLC (“WC”) entered into a September 11th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing an alleged violation of an Air Permit. See LIS No. 24-139.
The CAO provides that WC owns and operates a municipal solid waste landfill in Prairie County, Arkansas (“Landfill”).
The Landfill is stated to operate pursuant to an Air Permit.
DEQ personnel are stated to have conducted a routine compliance inspection of the Landfill on February 1st. The reporting period for the inspection is stated to have been July 2022 through January 2024.
The inspection is stated to have indicated that the Landfill failed to provide monthly records showing compliance with the Landfill gas throughput limit at the Solar Spark Passive Vent Flares (SN-04) for the entire reporting period. It is also stated to have failed to provide gas flow throughput records in two Semi-Annual Monitoring (“SAM”) reports, which are stated to have been due on July 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024. These alleged failures violate Specific Condition 21 and General Provision 7 of the Air Permit.
In response to February 27th correspondence, WC indicated it would submit a permit renewal application by April 12th which would revise the Permit to calculate emissions on the full capacity of each solar flare.
DEQ requested dates and results of opacity tests for SN-02 (Landfill gas collection) and passive solar flares on May 28th.
WC, SCS Engineers, and DEQ are stated to have held a meeting on June 5th to discuss proposed permit conditions for the Solar-Spark passive vent flares. Information was provided regarding the flares and DEQ requested information on permitting for such devices in other jurisdictions. SCS provided examples of passive solar flare permit conditions in other states’ DEQ.
WC in correspondence dated July 12th submitted a timeline and summary of events regarding the matter.
WC neither admits nor denies the factual and legal allegations contained in the CAO.
The CAO requires that the WC Landfill comply with the Permit conditions under Air Operating Permit 1888-AOP-R3, with the requested modification as noted in the permit renewal application submitted on April 12th, until either the effective date of the renewal permit or until the Permit is denied. If the permit renewal application is denied, passive flares are required to be disconnected from service and the Air Permit will be revised once again to reflect the removal of the passive vent flares.
A civil penalty of $1,680.00 is assessed.
A copy of the CAO can be downloaded here.
