Landfill Corrective Action and Regulatory Compliance

Landfill Corrective Action and Regulatory Compliance 

Since the early 1950s, DTE Electric Company has operated a coal combustion residuals (CCR) landfill in southeastern Michigan. Inorganic constituents leaching from the CCR affected the groundwater which flowed away from the landfill at concentrations above Michigan’s generic Residential Cleanup Criteria.  

TRC is providing a range of corrective action and regulatory compliance solutions including: 

Remedial Investigation and Action Plan 

• Groundwater delineation investigations
• Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study, including groundwater attenuation//fate and transport modeling for boron, lithium and sulfate to support evaluation of remedial options
• Groundwater Performance Monitoring Reports
• Remedial Action Plan for affected off-site groundwater, approved by Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)
• System operations, maintenance, performance monitoring and associated reporting.

Regulatory and Public Relations Assistance 

• Support for off-site resident/property owner meetings, including the preparation of formal notifications for more than 20 properties
• Permitting for the installation of the enhanced French drain in a wetland area

Design and Construction Services 

• Design of innovative capture-conveyance trench/detention pond to contain storm water runoff
• Design of capture-conveyance trench to intercept affected groundwater and drain it to the on-site detention pond
• Design for 19,000+ foot-long perimeter slurry wall and construction oversight during installation
• Design of 8,000-foot-long and 500-foot-long off-site groundwater capture systems and construction oversight during installation

The successful implementation of the perimeter ditch network, perimeter slurry wall and off-site groundwater collection system has kept the landfill in compliance with an MDEQ agreement and prevented additional off-site migration of affected groundwater. This has allowed the landfill to continue to operate in compliance with applicable regulations so that DTE can use the 100-year remaining CCR disposal capacity to maintain low transportation and disposal costs. The on-site landfill perimeter storm water runoff and leachate collection system is almost entirely gravity driven, which reduces power demand, resulting in less coal use and thus the disposal of less CCR 

Client

DTE Electric Company

Project Location

Michigan