The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has appointed an expert panel to help the Bristol address citizen concerns related to ongoing odor issues at the Bristol Landfill.
The panel is charged with evaluating existing corrective plans and developing recommendations for a course of action based on the best technical measures and practices available.
The expert panel will meet with city officials and their consulting engineers on March 21-22 to review the landfill’s history, how it was built, operating procedures and efforts taken to mitigate odor concerns to date.
The panel – led by Virginia Tech professor Mark A. Widdowson – is charged with providing practicable recommendations to the City of Bristol moving forward and solving the odor problem. Organized by DEQ and supported with emergency funds, experts from across the country, as well as from the EPA, are invited to assist in this effort.
“Community members and families surrounding the City of Bristol landfill have been asking for help and we want them to know they have been heard,” said DEQ Director Mike Rolband. “We are working with the best engineering minds in the field to focus technical expertise directly where it is most needed to ensure these concerns are appropriately addressed.”
Informed by a briefing by State Sen. Todd Pillion, Del. Israel O’Quinn and Del. Will Wampler on Jan. 20, Director Rolband traveled to the landfill to be personally updated on site by Bristol City Manager Randy Eads and his consulting team.
DEQ has concluded that working with City Manager Eads and this new expert panel is the necessary step to determine the best course of action moving forward. The result of the panel’s work will be summarized in a report to the city with a clear path forward.
For more information and updates on the Bristol Landfill, visit the DEQ website at www.DEQ.Virginia.gov/get-involved/topics-of-interest/bristol-landfill.
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