EPA wrapping up at St. Clair County landfill, state and local officials determine what’s next

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - St. Clair County officials say work at the landfill is almost done and they will meet with the Environmental Protection Agency this week to determine what’s next for the site.

The EPA has worked at the landfill since January and they say the fire is under control. They’ve added grass to the majority of the site.

St. Clair County Commissioner Chairman Stan Batemon says county officials will meet the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the EPA about the final stages of cleanup.

“The work is basically finished. I think there are a couple of inspections to be done,” says Batemon. “But we have a transition meeting on Wednesday. To transition between EPA and ADEM. We’ll get this back in as a piece of private property that’s not a danger to anybody.”

The EPA wrapped up its air monitoring last Friday but they will test the air quality before they leave. Batemon says he still wants to know what’s been burning at the landfill for months.

“What did I breathe before this happened?” says Batemon. “And a little bit of paint and a little bit of caulk wouldn’t necessarily be what we need. We’ve got to continue to monitor what runs out of this landfill for water quality and we’ve also got to monitor the health of the individuals that breathed so much of the smoke, to begin with.”

They are also finalizing plans to begin road work on Annie Lee Road to fix the damage from so many large trucks moving materials in and out of the landfill the last few months.

“That road is torn all to pieces,” says Batemon. “But it’s been taken on by Auburn University and the Alabama Department of Transportation. As a test project to use asphalt made from out of ground-up car tires.”

Batemon says he expects when officials meet on Wednesday that the landfill will be turned over to the state and then they will determine what will happen to the site next.

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