Cleanup is underway at the Shoosmith landfill. Who will foot the $173 million bill?
Who will pay for a $173 million cleanup effort that could span three decades at the bankrupt Shoosmith Landfill? Answers remain unclear after Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Director Mike Rolband presented a year-long cleanup plan to Chesterfield’s Board of Supervisors last week.
The department is the primary regulator of privately owned landfills, which includes Shoosmith — in 2023, the county requested the state provide it some power over Shoosmith, but was denied. Currently, the cleanup is being overseen by a committee with representatives from the state, the county and the landfill’s trustee.
A combination of state money, bonds from the landfill’s now-bankrupt owners and emergency funds are sustaining the cleanup through its first fiscal year — until June 30, 2027.
During the presentation’s Q&A portion, board chair and Midlothian Supervisor Mark Miller asked Rolband about whether or not the cleanup costs will solely fall on Chesterfield County taxpayers.
“I don’t have the authority to make any commitments on the budget issues,” Rolband said. “How the elected (state) officials decide to appropriate money, I have no influence.”
The largest funding source buoying the cleanup through 2027 is $10.6 million from the General Assembly’s budget — a figure Bermuda Supervisor Jim Ingle said the county was appreciative of considering how late it came up during the budget approval process.
But part of what’s next is deciding where the rest of the money will come from.
“I do appreciate the fact that the state overall has stepped up to say, ‘Yes this is where the money should come from,’” Ingle said.
“I’m thankful, but I’m very much asking the state to continue that effort as we bring a better long-term plan — not because we haven’t tried to develop one, but because we truly haven’t had time.”
Eleanor Shaw
Del. Mike Cherry (R) — who represents the landfill’s neighbors in the state legislature — also nodded to the state bearing primary cleanup responsibility.
“You may ask, ‘Why should the state be responsible for that?’ The answer for that is DEQ is the authority that oversees the landfills,” Cherry said in an interview a week after the board meeting. “They’re the ones that make sure there’s compliance. So it really is a state issue.”
He added that the quickest way to answer the funding question would be for the state to make funding available and recoup the money by taking either civil or criminal legal action against the landfill’s former owners. Luckily, Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) announced an unexpected budget surplus last week.
“Now is the time for us to step up into that role of advocation and say, ‘Hey, if you’ve got extra, we could certainly use it to mitigate this potential issue down here in Chesterfield,’” Cherry said.
One potential funding source is actually coming from within the landfill. Solid waste expels gas, which can contain a high enough concentration of methane to burn. This gas can be collected and then sold.
One of the first priorities is putting a cover over the landfill. Leachate is produced when rain water passes through solid waste and is contaminated, forming a goo-like substance. If too much builds up, the leachate’s temperature increases and it emits gases. The longer it sits, the more difficult and unsafe it gets to treat. Preventing further water from entering the garbage will help slow down the problem.
Besides trying to limit additional leachate production, the department is looking to keep trucking the existing leachate out of the landfill. Rolband said the team handling Shoosmith is hoping to sort the wastewater into two categories: one that can be safely disposed of in public facilities (and therefore cutting down on transportation costs), and one that can’t.
Part of this task will be finding partners with the appropriate permitting and equipment.
“We have multiple companies that want to bid on this process,” Supervisor Ingle said during the board meeting. “We will probably have several different opportunities to look at.”
Del. Cherry said next year will potentially bring state legislation placing more parameters on private landfill owners to ensure they can’t evade financial responsibility for cleanups like that of Shoosmith’s. But Cherry’s immediate focus is on ensuring the landfill’s neighbors are kept up to date.
“No, this is not out of control. No, it’s not a runaway problem,” he said. “We know the depth and breadth of the potential of what’s going on and that we’re mitigating those things every day. We’re getting the leachate out. We are trying to set up a treatment plan on site.”
The department expects to publish a website Wednesday which will highlight cleanup updates.
“That’s the thing that I want for residents to hear,” Cherry said. “We are transparent in what’s going on and we’re available to answer questions when you have them.”
Contact Eleanor Shaw at eshaw@richmonder.org. She is a Report for America corps member.
