Field Office Compliance - Assistance

Assistance ID - 109803
North Central Iowa Regional Sanitary Landfill - 310204356
2150 South 22nd Street Fort Dodge, IA 50501
Webster County

FO 2

Report
File Name File Type File Date Note
Comments
11/21/2019 Two years ago a DNR inspection noted that a portion of the southeast corner of the landfill is sliding into Gypsum Creek; the Landfill was not aware of this prior to DNR noting it. Worst case, but currently considered unlikely, is a slope failure which would result in solid waste and leachate slumping into the creek and then being transported into the Des Moines River a short distance away. I have been working with DNR Solid Waste Section to encourage the Landfill to evaluate and mitigate this issue but, for a time, the Landfill did not appear to have the same sense of urgency that DNR has; (i.e., it has been two years and the initial on-site evaluation has only now just been completed). I note that the Landfill was hiring a new Director and that resulted in some delay. DNR's Mike Smith and I met with the Landfill, their engineer (HLW) and their geotechnical engineer (Terra Con) to learn the results of Terra Con's preliminary evaluation. A large mass of earth has moved several feet in the last two years and one foot in the last 6 months, but it is not clear if the most likely catastrophic failure plane is within the solid waste itself. Terra Con also asserts that it is unlikely there will be a catastrophic failure; rather they believe that the mass of earth will continue to move at a slow rate. DNR had previously required that the Landfill submit a Plan of Action by December 1, 2019, and this was discussed. DNR also required that the Landfill develop a conceptual contingency plan with emergency measures to respond if there were a catastrophic failure or the rate of earth movement increased substantially. DAVID MILLER
State of Iowa DNR Home Site Policy
Leading Iowans in caring for our natural resources
Version: 2.3.2.24780