SAN FRANCISCO — Republic Services of Southern Nevada has begun large-scale construction work under oversight by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at Sunrise Landfill, a 440-acre closed municipal\u00a0solid waste\u00a0landfill, located three miles outside of Las Vegas city limits in Clark County.<\/p>\n
The $25 million construction project, expected to last through 2012, was awarded to Las Vegas Paving Company and will employ 40 local construction workers. The project stems from a 2008 Consent Decree requiring Republic, the landfill operator, to install extensive\u00a0stormwater\u00a0controls, an armored cover, and\u00a0landfill gas\u00a0monitoring system; complete and monitor a groundwater monitoring\u00a0system; and develop a long-term operation and maintenance strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cEPA is requiring this work to protect a vital\u00a0drinking water\u00a0source for communities from Las Vegas to Phoenix,\u201d said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA\u2019s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. \u201cThis will prevent the release of over 17 million pounds of contaminants each year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the settlement, Republic is utilizing clean diesel technology to place 1 million cubic yards of soil and rock within the site. These efforts are especially important because\u00a0diesel exhaust\u00a0is linked to reduced lung capacity and asthma, and is a likely human carcinogen.<\/p>\n
The EPA-approved remedy ensures effective control of the landfill with a durable and cost-effective landfill cover and stormwater system that address the unique geographic and climatic characteristics of Nevada\u2019s arid desert landscape. Since 2008, five new groundwater monitoring wells\u00a0have been drilled and 41 wells completed for quarterly sampling, as well as 30\u00a0landfill gas\u00a0monitoring probes installed around the perimeter of the landfill.<\/p>\n
An inadequate cover and stormwater system coupled with a storm in September 1998 resulted in a discharge of waste into the Las Vegas Wash and, ultimately, Lake Mead — a primary\u00a0drinking water\u00a0resource for southern Nevada, including the Las Vegas metro area, as well as the Phoenix metro area and southern California.<\/p>\n
Sunrise Mountain Landfill is unlined and contains more than 18 million tons of waste, including municipal\u00a0solid waste, medical waste, sewage sludge, hydrocarbon-contaminated soils, and\u00a0construction waste.<\/p>\n
The landfill was operated on behalf of the County by entities related to Republic Services of Southern Nevada from the 1950s through 1993. Following the landfill cover failure in 1998, EPA cited Republic Dumpco and the Clark County Public Works Department for violations of the\u00a0Clean Water Act\u00a0and the\u00a0Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. At that time, EPA ordered the company to implement a\u00a0stormwater\u00a0control plan; repair the existing\u00a0drainage system; upgrade the landfill cap to federal standards; control and monitor\u00a0methane\u00a0and groundwater; and submit a plan to maintain and monitor the site.<\/p>\n
For more information, visit:\u00a0http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/region9\/waste\/sunrise<\/a>\u00a0andhttp:\/\/www.epa.gov\/region9\/waste\/features\/sunrise-landfill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SAN FRANCISCO — Republic Services of Southern Nevada has begun large-scale construction work under oversight by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at Sunrise Landfill, a 440-acre closed municipal\u00a0solid waste\u00a0landfill, located three miles outside of Las Vegas city limits in Clark County. The $25 million construction project, expected to last through 2012, was awarded to Las … Continue reading Major operations begin on $25 million construction at Sunrise Landfill<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4756"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4757,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4756\/revisions\/4757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unrbep.org\/dealerportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}