Madison County would like to take this opportunity to respond to the comments at the Oneida Common Council meeting June 15, 2021, that the Madison County Landfill was the cause of the upset at the Oneida Waste Water Treatment Plant in late September 2020. For the last nine months, Madison County’s position was that we were not the cause of this upset.
Madison County was pleased to hear that the investigation by Ramboll Americas Engineering Solutions, Inc., did not determine that the landfill leachate was the cause of the upset. The report that was sent to the city of Oneida reads, “In summary, the WWTP upset at the end of September 2020 appears to have been caused by organic (BOD and TKN) overloading of the secondary treatment process. The operation of the WWTP was initially stressed in July 2020 by high leachate flows. However, the actual upset was the result of greater than normal organic loading from HP Hood in August and September.”
Landfill leachate flows in July 2020 were very high due to higher than average rainfall amounts of approximately 12 inches, followed by a dry spell that increased the concentration of landfill leachate at landfills across the state. The investigation identified that the high flows in July exceeded the 3-percent flow limitation; however, due to the excessive rainfall, the leachate strength would likely have been dilute. The report reads “however, the actual upset was the result of greater than normal organic loading from HP Hood in August and September.”
In September 2020, Oneida’s city engineer at the time asked Madison County to halt their flow of leachate to the WWTP, and we did just that. No leachate has been sent to the WWTP since. Instead, the leachate is hauled to another location and disposed of, which has cost the county $375,000.
Madison County received word and had a discussion with the city of Oneida the first week of June 2021 about resuming flow of leachate. We told the city before we resumed flow we wanted to ensure that everything was in order with our new system that allows us to more closely monitor and adjust the levels of the flow. Over the past nine months, Madison County has proactively reviewed the leachate management system and made improvements where possible. After the Solid Waste Committee meeting June 22, 2021, Madison County resumed a low-level flow of leachate to the WWTP.
“Since the upset in September, Madison County has taken the issue very seriously,” said Madison County Administrator Mark Scimone. “We wanted to ensure the facts came out regardless of what they were. And if it was truly the leachate from the landfill that caused the upset, we were prepared to take responsibility and work to make sure it never happened again. We were disappointed to hear that the mayor and the city, despite the Ramboll report, continue to blame the county for the upset.
“Now is the time to move past what has happened. We look forward to continuing to work with the city of Oneida to serve our community and continue to improve our landfill operations.”