When the Shoosmith Landfill in Chesterfield County starts to smell particularly ripe, workers turn on something akin to a massive air freshener, releasing a faint grape scent into the surrounding neighborhoods.
“It’s not just a masking agent — it also neutralizes odors,” Fletcher Kelly, a co-owner of the landfill, which is located not far from the county government complex on Iron Bridge Road. “So it wasn’t a matter of a grape scent over a citrus scent over a pine scent.”
The landfill currently is seeking permission to expand its operations into a 250-foot-deep granite quarry on the property. The Department of Environmental Quality is in the process of reviewing the plan’s technical merits, and in September the county’s Board of Supervisors will also be asked to sign off on the expansion.
Since the landfill opened in 1976, the area has transformed from rural to solidly suburban. And nearby residents are saying the operation — grape-scented or not — isn’t compatible with the neighborhoods that have sprung up around it.
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As of the 2010 U.S. census, 15,000 people lived within roughly 3 miles of the landfill, with some neighborhoods growing by as much as 80 percent over the prior decade.
The expansion would extend the landfill’s life 15 to 18 years.
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The DEQ has made it clear that its review is limited to determining whether the expansion can move forward safely. The agency says questions about whether a landfill is an appropriate use for the land were answered in the 1990s: first when the county issued a conditional use permit that allowed them to expand onto the adjacent parcel that contains the quarry, and again when the DEQ reviewed the first phase of the current application that dealt with siting issues.
It’s unclear whether the county supervisors will be able to factor in quality-of-life issues raised by residents when they conduct their own review.
According to county code, though the board already signed off on a conditional use permit, additional approval is required before the landfill can be expanded into the quarry. The board is asked to determine that the landfill poses no “present or potential substantial danger to the health, safety or welfare” of any person or the environment.
Some supervisors say they have concerns.
“I guess the question we want to look at is: Is this appropriate for Chesterfield County in 2025 when they start putting trash in it?” said board Chairman Steve Elswick, who represents the Matoaca District. “I question that, and I have a lot of questions I need (our) staff to answer.”
Elswick said he’s still waiting for guidance on how much leeway the board has under the code when it considers the issue.
Supervisor James “Jim” Holland, who represents the Dale District, where the landfill is located, promised he will “try to make an informed decision” but declined to comment further because he said he was still in the process of researching the issue.
Supervisor Dorothy A. Jaeckle, who represents the adjacent Bermuda District, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Deputy County Administrator William D. Dupler said the county has hired a consultant to conduct its own technical review of Shoosmith’s plan for the quarry.
Last week, the county requested that the DEQ extend its public comment period until after the county makes its own decision in September. The DEQ responded that it was unable to do that without agreement from Shoosmith.
Dupler said the county wants to make sure any questions that come up in its review process are forwarded to the DEQ. He also said the county has noticed some variations between what the DEQ has allowed and what is allowed under the landfill’s special use permit from the county. For example, he said, the DEQ permit currently allows disposal of animal carcasses at the landfill, whereas the county does not.
In an interview, Kelly, the co-owner of Shoosmith, confirmed the company doesn’t object to extending the review period.
Kelly stressed that the landfill has done everything that it can to be a good neighbor. Among other things, the landfill holds quarterly meetings with neighbors and has set up a hotline for residents to address complaints.
According to the complaint log maintained by Shoosmith, landfill employees regularly investigate complaints of smells, and, if appropriate, reposition the grape-scented, odor-neutralizing mister.
And in response to complaints about seagulls and vultures roosting in nearby neighborhoods, management has dispatched employees to scare away the birds. They also utilize a propane cannon on-site.
The landfill was the subject of three DEQ enforcement actions in 2013 and 2014 and agreed to pay a total of $75,000 in civil fines and cover the costs of keeping a DEQ inspector on-site for the year.
The violations came after the inspectors found the landfill left waste exposed overnight and allowed stormwater to run from the landfill into drainage ditches.
Kelly called the violations embarrassing but said he is proud of his record. “Those are the only ones the site has had in its 39 years of existence,” he said. “We’re human, and every time we have challenges, we find out a better way to do it.”
A plan to convert a Chesterfield County quarry into a landfill and pack it with trash is hea…