Landfill’s smell affecting Anson residents

POLKTON — Bob Johnson may have to leave his home, a house he built for himself over 40 years ago, and the area he has grown to love, all because of unbearable odors spewing out from Waste Connections’ Anson Landfill.

Johnson started noticing a horrific smell coming from the landfill in Polkton about three to four months ago. He lives less than two miles from the site. Barbara Kiker first smelled the odor about six months ago, which she at first believed to be a gas leak coming from someone’s house.

But it got worse.

“Now, it is about an every day or every other day occurrence,” Kiker said. “On real foggy days, it’s terrible. If the wind is blowing just right, it’s terrible.”

The odor is not constant, all day, every day, but enough to make your stomach turn.

“It was so strong in my house,” Johnson said. “I wake up about three o’clock in the morning and I actually feel sick…It was a horrible smell. It smelled like raw sewage and battery acid mixed together.”

Anson’s landfill services both Carolinas and accepts multiple types of garbage — normal household garbage, non-hazardous commercial waste, farm or agriculture waste, municipal solid waste, construction debris, concrete, yard waste, tree branches and more.

Old paint, chemicals and cleaning supplies must go to a chemical waste disposal facility. There are also special convenience sites in the county where tires, e-waste, white goods, batteries and wood waste can be discarded.

Tyler Fitzgerald from Waste Connections spoke in front of the Anson County Board of Commissioners during their March meeting and addressed the concerns over the odor.

Fitzgerald joked while coming up to the podium that he was not quite sure why he was invited to the meeting. Chairman Jarvis Woodburn explained that the Board has received concerns from citizens about odors from the landfill.

“We’re working on that problem with two areas,” Fitzgerald said. “One, we added some more gas wells in December, which will help capture and contain and take care of (the smell). Those helped but they didn’t do enough and so we’re adding some more.”

Landfill gas odors are created from bacterial or chemical prepossessing. The smell could also be from certain types of waste, such as manures, going into the site. Over time, bacteria causes the waste to decompose, generating gases. The gases are collected and destroyed by flare eliminating greenhouse gas emission on site.

The other issue Fitzgerald believes contributed to the odor was how Waste Connections filled an area last year with a more sandy soils. Those soils did not do what was hoped. A contractor is now on site recovering those areas with clays, according to Fitzgerald.

“Our complaint right now is smell,” Johnson said. “If we cannot get this smell get taken care of, I’m going to have to move because I have several major health problems and I cannot take it.”

Johnson does not want to move, but he is afraid of what is mixed in with the odor because of not only his health, but the health of his family, kids and grandchildren. If this problem is not solved, he does not know what else to do.

When Kiker moved her about 12 years ago, the landfill was already there, but you could not smell it or see it. It was only in the last few months that the smell became a major problem.

“We don’t know what the long range affects of this are,” Kiker said. “And that is scary.”

Johnson created a Facebook page, Anson County Waste Management Landfill Odors, to discuss the issue with other residents, urging people to report it. He posts article links or submission forms to send in complaints. He also adds in contact information for residents to voice their concerns.

The group now has 78 members within a week of creation. Some members of the group live six miles from the landfill site and claim to still smell the odors.

“We feel like the smell and possible population is just another nail in the coffin that will not advance (Anson County’s) economic condition,” Kiker said.

Fitzgerald said Anson Landfill strives to be a good neighbor and the company is constantly evaluating the site to manage these odors.

“It’s going to take time,” Fitzgerald said. “But we’re working on it every single day.”