The Mead Corporation’s Chillicothe mill generates up to 1,000 tons per day of residual waste. These wastes include primary and secondary wastewater treatment, sludges, coal ash, wood and bark ash and other processed residuals. Waste disposal alternatives currently available to the mill include land application, strip-mine reclamation and land filling to a municipal solid waste site.
The Mead Corporation was desirous of developing its own landfill, capable of receiving a significant portion of the processed residual waste stream. The design approach calls for this landfill site to receive 350 tons per day for a minimum of 20 years.
SCS Engineers initiated the project by performing a site-selection investigation across Ross County. First, an exclusionary mapping process was performed to identify sites attaining acceptability against some 30 criteria established by Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). From these, approximately 50 sites were identified.
Visual surveys of these 50 sites were subsequently performed, and property ownership ascertained. Eventually, these candidate landfill sites were further reduced to 20. A ranking system was established, and the 20 sites were ranked by suitability. (All 20 sites were determined suitable for landfill development, and all were believed “permittable” under the Ohio EPA system.)
Among the major objectives of this project:
