| A contested case hearing in Austin remains one of the only options for east Fort Bend County residents to halt plans by Allied Waste to expand their Blue Ridge Landfill, said several officials with the state's environmental agency on Thursday.
The landfill was constructed after much opposition in 1993 by BFI, and officials with the company now seek a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to expand it. Currently, the landfill is 58 feet high and includes 784 acres for waste disposal; its current permit only allows it to be operated for 13 more years. Allied Waste officials hope to expand its lifespan to 40 years by increasing its height limit and total acreage.
The TCEQ on Thursday night hosted a public meeting involving executives with Allied Waste and experts with TCEQ. About 200 Blue Ridge-area residents from Fort Bend and Brazoria counties attended the meeting, in which they were given an overview of plans for the landfill and an opportunity to pose questions and comments for Allied Waste and TCEQ officials.
Engineer Jeff Young, whose firm, Weaver Boss Consultants, was hired by BFI, said Allied Waste and Fort Bend County agreed to allow the landfill to reach no more than 170 feet in height as part of the proposed expansion. The expansion would combine three different landfill cells into one unit and expand the amount of acreage dedicated to waste disposal from 784 to 1,345.
Surrounding the landfill itself will be a buffer zone of 561 acres within Blue Ridge property, said Young, as well as landscaping and gas and water monitors.
Those statements offered little assurance to those asking questions, including one environmentalist who questioned the ability of Allied Waste to properly monitor the landfill after its expansion.
Robert Stall said the addition of trash onto the current landfill will create pressure and cause it to release more gases. He claimed the gases could be released in all directions, and could escape detection by the proposed monitors.
"With fixed well positions, how are you going to know what happens within the (landfill) stack," he asked.
Even in some of the company's massive landfills in California - reaching 250 feet in height - the company has maintained safety standards, responded one Allied Waste representative.
"On our gas probes, we're not showing any horizontal migration (of dangerous gasses)," said the official.
Other queries included the potential for odor with the landfill expansion, with one Fort Bend County resident saying the facility already produces smells that reach miles.
"I've lived here my whole life; I've never smelled it until the landfill moved here," said Paula Mayfield.
Several questions concerned how residents could potentially halt the expansion plans. An attorney with TCEQ, John Williams, explained to the crowd that a contested case hearing could be called by the three commissioners of TCEQ, who have been appointed to the position by Gov. Rick Perry.
Whether the commissioners call for one depends in large part on the comments submitted to the agency, both at the hearing and in written comments.
A person who proves they live in the area directly affected by the landfill may be eligible for a hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings, which is an agency that decides on contested matters involving a range of state agencies. That hearing may not happen for years, and the hearing itself would occur over a period of six months to a year.
Individuals may submit comments to the TCEQ concerning the landfill by Monday, Dec. 18.
Fort Bend County Precinct 1 Commissioner Tom Stavinoha has said he does not seek to contest the landfill's permit. State Rep. Dora Olivo, D-Rosenberg, attended the hearing and is opposing the expansion.
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