What hazardous waste was accepted at Veolia’s Pecan Row Landfill
that got a $27,500 fine from GA EPD this January?


Veolia is ADS now, the same company to which

Lowndes County granted an exclusive franchise for waste pickup.

We already knew that landfill accepts

coal ash from TVA.
What else is in there,
seeping into our drinking water aquifer,
and with runoff going into the Withlacoochee River?

According to

GA EPD,

Under authority of the Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act :

Facility:	Veolia ES Pecan Row Landfill/Valdosta; order issued to Veolia ES Pecan Row Landfill, LLC
Location:	Lowndes County
Order Number:	EPD-SW-2564
Date of Issue:	January 30,2013
Cause of Order:	Violations of Rules for Solid Waste Management/regulated hazardous waste acceptance; failure to properly conduct inspections
Requirement(s) of Order:	Implement plan to prevent acceptance of regulated quantities of HW and PCB wastes at facility; ensure all employees handling waste recognize/identify labeled HW and PCB wastes at facility
Settlement Amount:	$27500.00

According to

U.S. EPA,
Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB):

PCBs have been demonstrated to cause a variety of adverse health


effects. PCBs have been shown to cause cancer in animals. PCBs have
also been shown to cause a number of serious non-cancer health
effects in animals, including effects on the immune system,
reproductive system, nervous system, endocrine system and other
health effects. Studies in humans provide supportive evidence for
potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects of PCBs. The
different health effects of PCBs may be interrelated, as alterations
in one system may have significant implications for the other
systems of the body.

Why it matters that PCBs are in that landfill,
also

according to US EPA:

Prior to the 1979 ban, PCBs entered the environment during their
manufacture and use in the United States. Today PCBs can still be
released into the environment from poorly maintained hazardous waste
sites that contain PCBs; illegal or improper dumping of PCB wastes;


leaks or releases from electrical transformers containing PCBs; and
disposal of PCB-containing consumer products into municipal or other
landfills not designed to handle hazardous waste. PCBs may also be
released into the environment by the burning of some wastes in
municipal and industrial incinerators.

Once in the environment, PCBs do not readily break down and

therefore may remain for long periods of time cycling between air,
water, and soil. PCBs can be carried long distances and have been
found in snow and sea water in areas far away from where they were
released into the environment. As a consequence, PCBs are found all
over the world. In general, the lighter the form of PCB, the further
it can be transported from the source of contamination.

PCBs can accumulate in the leaves and above-ground parts of plants
and food crops. They are also taken up into the bodies of small
organisms and fish. As a result, people who ingest fish may be
exposed to PCBs that have bioaccumulated in the fish they are
ingesting.

We need to know what’s in that landfill.

-jsq