Dive Brief:
- Lordstown, OH residents met with officials of cement and concrete maker Lafarge this week to discuss strong odors from drywall at the Lordstown Construction Recovery Landfill. Lafarge received four violations this year tied to the odor, caused by release of hydrogen sulfide. Despite the emissions, the Ohio EPA says the smell is not a health risk.
- The Ohio EPA, Trumbull County Health Department, and the Mahoning-Trumbull Air Pollution Control Agency have received more than 90 complaints about odors from the site over the past year. The EPA says it has been monitoring and performing inspections and has joined with the health department and air pollution control agency to work with the facility on resolving the problem.
- Lafarge has placed a clay cap over the north end of the plant, to keep water off the landfill and reduce the stench. The company said it will devise a new approach if the cap does not bring resolution.
Dive Insight:
Even if the odor is no more than a nuisance, the levels of gases released are against EPA regulations.
In November, the EPA gas meters measured 190 parts per billion of hydrogen sulfide, more than 20 times the limit, according to WFMJ. But agency officials say that the levels do not pose a health threat because they are not "consistently high."
"We're working on a settlement with the company right now, so we're negotiating that. And we hope to have another settlement in a few weeks," said Ohio EPA's Dina Pierce to WFMJ.
"It is water that comes in and reacts with ... the wallboard that you find in regular construction, and when it gets wet it can release some of the odor, so [the cap] seals off that area," said Lafarge Operations manager Hans Schrama.
