From Seven Out in Waycross to CSX to Pecan Row Landfill in Lowndes County

CSX was involved directly in the Seven Out contamination, storing hazardous water that leaked: and then that water was apparently shipped to the Pecan Row Landfill in Lowndes County. This is in addition to the the CSX trichloroethylene groundwater contamination dating back to 2000 and earlier.

According to a letter from Georgia Department of Natural Resources to BCX, Inc. of 20 July 2004, EPA Identification Number: GAR000030007,

  1. Twenty-seven tanks of wastewater were stored at the facility. Four portable tanks were storing the excess capacity of wastewater next door on property owned by CSX Transportation. These portable 10,000-gallon tanks were not labeled to indicate their contents;
  2. According to a BCX representative, one of the portable 10,000-gallon tanks had a gasket failure on the forward manhole which caused the release of an unknown substance onto the ground at the site owned by CSX Transportation;
  3. Dead vegetation was observed in a 15 feet by 30 feet area downgradient of the tank that caused the release;
  4. A yellowish-green substance was observed on the ground between the portable tank that had the release and another portable tank adjacent to it. There was also dead vegetation observed between these two tanks; and

And GA EPD tested the soil and found something the document doesn’t specify, but whatever it was was enough that:

WHEREAS, based on the inspections, the Respondent is in violation of the following:
  1. Solid Waste Rules:
    1. Chapter 391r3-4-.02, “Solid Waste Handling Permits” – operation of a solid waste handling facility without a permit required by the Solid Waste Management Act; and
  2. Hazardous Waste Rules:
    1. 40 CFR Section 262.11, “Hazardous Waste Determination” – because the Respondent failed to determine if the wastes stored at the Facility are hazardous or non-hazardous.

So GA EPD required BCX to put up a million dollar bond and fined it $50,000.00, payable to GA DNR.

Where did these wastewaters stored on CSX property come from?

  1. The Facility operated as a commercial non-hazardous waste storage and treatment facility. When the plant was in operation, the facility received wastewaters from numerous waste generators including leachate from the Nassau County Solid Waste Landfill located in Nassau County, Florida and from Broadhurst Environmental, which operates a solid waste landfill in Screvin, Georgia. The wastewaters that were received by the Facility were treated at the site and subsequently discharged to the city’s Publicly Owned Treatment Works ‘ (hereinafter “POTW”). Because the plant discharged to the city’s POTW under a prc-traatment permit issued by the City of Waycross, the Facility was initially exempt from permitting under the Solid Waste Management Act;
  2. On March 1, 2004, the City of Waycross terminated BCX’s connection to the . sewer system because of continued failure to meet the pre-treatment standards.

And where did the remaining wastewater that the City of Waycross wouldn’t accept go? 196,500 gallons of it went to the Pecan Row landfill in Lowndes County.

Designated “Non RCRA Regulated Liquids”. Nevermind those liquids weren’t acceptable by the City of Waycross for its wastewater system; the privatized Veolia (then called Onyx, now owned by ADS) landfill in Lowndes County accepted them no problem. The landfill that’s in an aquifer recharge zone and just uphill from the Withlacoochee River.

Maybe people near Lowndes County’s Pecan Row Landfill who are sick might want to fill out that questionnaire.

-jsq