Landfill Notifications and Information

The City of Bristol, Virginia is very pleased to have entered into a formal consent decree with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). This is a critical next step in our concerted efforts to resolve challenges at the Bristol Quarry Landfill and place Bristol’s landfill remediation efforts and timeline into a court order.  The consent decree is now open for public review and comment. We hope this period will give the public confidence in our remediation work at the landfill. Key components of the consent decree are as follows: 

• The City of Bristol will complete a series of injunctive relief items designed to address odor and emissions, and long-term management issues at the quarry landfill, which stopped accepting waste in September of 2022. These efforts include important work which is already underway: construction of a sidewall odor mitigation system that will run the entirety of the rock quarry landfill; upgrades of the wells and pumps within the landfill; implementation of additional cover over the waste; intensive mapping and measurement of the landfill; and the ultimate installation of a cover.
• The City of Bristol will pay $92,000 for reimbursement of Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund (VEERF) monies expended by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) as a result of alleged violations during the monitoring of the landfill and implementation of improvements.
• The Commonwealth will suspend the balance of remaining civil charges of $377,697, pending Bristol’s satisfactory completion of the injunctive relief.
• Upon Bristol’s satisfactory completion and financial demonstration of monies spent for improvements at the landfill, Bristol may petition DEQ for reimbursement of up to $2 Million of funding set aside by the Virginia General Assembly to assist Bristol with resolution of ongoing environmental issues at the landfill. 

 The City of Bristol greatly appreciates the amount of time and effort Virginia OAG & DEQ have put into helping us reach this agreement and serve the citizens in our community. We are fully committed to addressing and resolving challenges at the Bristol quarry landfill in an environmentally sound manner. 

The Consent Decree and contact information for public comment can be found at: https://www.deq.virginia.gov/permits-regulations/public-notices/enforcement-orders

Work continues on Phase 1 of the Sidewall Odor Mitigation System.  This week, additional clay was moved on top of the higher horizontal collector.  Wellheads connecting the horizontal collector pipes to the blower and flare were raised to above grade, and the installation of piping to the blower and flare was completed.  Also, two feet of clay was backfilled up the wall to allow for concrete to be poured behind the rock fall protective barrier. Additional photos of the recent progress on the Sidewall Odor Mitigation System can be found on the landfill website at https://bristolvalandfill.org/progress.

Statement from the City of Bristol on a Notice of Violation for the Bristol Sanitary Landfill dated 1/19/23