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Fact Sheet 3 February 2011

Orchard Hills and Winnebago Landfills
Ogle and Winnebago Counties

The purpose of this Fact Sheet is to provide information to the public about landfill odors and the corrective measures that have been performing to alleviate the odors. In order to keep area residents informed, Fact Sheet updates will be distributed as activities progress at each landfill.

Over the past several months, odors have been an issue for persons living within the vicinity of the Orchard Hills and Winnebago Landfills. As a result, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) has been working with both landfill companies to determine the source of the odors and how these odors can be eliminated. On October 13, 2010, the Illinois EPA sent a NIPLA (Notice of Intent to Pursue Legal Action) to the landfill companies citing violations of the environmental statutes. This action by the Illinois EPA has resulted in the landfill companies responding with a variety of proposed remedies.

Orchard Hills Landfill Status

To date, the following measures have been taken to eliminate odors:

  • Submitted Odor Management Plan to the Illinois EPA for review,
  • Developed Community Response Line to allow members of community to report odor concerns by telephone,
  • Expanded existing landfill gas collection system by installing 13 additional vertical gas extraction wells,
  • Installed three new blowers and an enclosed flare that increases total landfill gas collection,
  • Installed additional horizontal gas collectors in southern portion of the landfill,
  • Increased frequency of gas well field monitoring, and
  • Implemented continuous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) monitoring at site boundaries.

Winnebago Landfill Status

To date, the following measures have been taken to eliminate odors:

  • Inspected of daily cover with gas detection instruments,
  • Screened for incoming odor causing materials and developed methods for rejecting or requiring special handling of such materials,
  • Inspected gas and leachate collection systems,
  • Monitored/analyzed weather data to help in determine locations of odor sources through the Odor Management Plan website,
  • Installed additional vertical and horizontal gas collection wells in the North and South units, and
  • Established automated control system to ensure vacuum is constant on the collection system to help capture of landfill gases.

Contact

For more information, please contact the Illinois EPA Office of Community Relations. Additional documents not available on this webpage may be obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request or through IEPA Document Explorer.