Understanding Type I Landfills: Safety and Operations
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) plays a lead role in ensuring that all operational requirements are met for Type I municipal solid waste landfills, the most common type of landfill in Texas, to ensure public health and environmental protection.
- What is a Type I Landfill?
- Protection of Water Resources
- Controlling Pests and Vectors
- Requirements for Preventing Odors from Migrating Offsite
- Odor Complaints
- Landfill’s Impacts on Traffic
- The Application Review Process
- Public Participation Opportunities
What is a Type I Landfill?
A Type I landfill is designed to receive nonhazardous municipal solid waste and confine that waste to the smallest practical area to protect human health and the environment.
What is nonhazardous municipal solid waste?
Nonhazardous municipal solid waste includes everyday items disposed of at locations such as:
- Homes
- Store
- Schools
- Office buildings
- Recreational areas
- Restaurants
Industrial facilities, such as factories or warehouses, can also dispose of their nonhazardous waste at Type I landfills. For example, a factory may discard unused packaging material at a Type I landfill.
The disposal of nonhazardous solid waste is regulated under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Protection of Water Resources
Water resources serve essential purposes, from recreation to drinking water. To prioritize safety, landfill applications and permits must meet strict standards to protect water sources. Landfills employ multiple systems to protect water resources.
Protecting Groundwater Quality with a Liner System
A landfill liner system is crucial for safeguarding water resources. The liner system is designed to protect the aquifer beneath a landfill from leachate, a liquid formed when rainwater passes through waste in landfills. The liner acts as a barrier, preventing leachate from seeping into groundwater.
Protecting Water Quality with a Leachate Collection System
A leachate collection system collects and removes leachate from landfills, which is then transported to authorized treatment facilities. Landfills are required to have a leachate collection system and must undergo regular maintenance, including inspections, cleaning, and monitoring, to ensure the system is operating effectively.
Monitoring Groundwater Quality
To safeguard ground water resources, each Type I landfill monitors groundwater quality twice a year. A landfill uses a robust groundwater monitoring system to detect potential contamination from the landfill. Samples are collected from monitoring wells and analyzed in a certified laboratory. The results are then sent to TCEQ for review.
If groundwater quality is impacted by the landfill, the permittee must take action to decrease pollutant concentrations to safe levels. This monitoring process enables both the landfill and TCEQ to effectively track groundwater quality over time, allowing for timely remediation if necessary.
Protecting Surface Water Quality
All water that comes into contact with waste must be collected and transported to an authorized treatment facility. Drainage systems at the landfill divert rainfall away from the landfill using channels, basins, or other techniques to collect runoff, minimizing the impact on nearby lakes, rivers, and streams.
Protecting Water Resources After Closure
After a landfill is closed, a protective final cover made of soil or synthetic materials is placed over the landfill to prevent rainwater from infiltrating waste. This minimizes the potential of contaminants entering groundwater. Groundwater monitoring continues for 30 years after the landfill is closed to ensure any potential contamination is promptly detected and addressed.
Controlling Pests and Vectors
Several techniques are implemented during daily landfill operations to prevent vectors from accessing waste.
What is a Vector?
A vector is an animal or insect capable of transferring a pathogen from one organism to another. A common concern expressed to the TCEQ is that a landfill might attract vectors that could transfer pathogens, spread disease, or harm livestock and crops.
Techniques Used to Control Vectors at a Landfill
The TCEQ requires landfills to control on-site populations of vectors. Methods and plans include:
- Compaction: layering and pressing waste down with heavy equipment to reduce access to waste, decreasing vector attraction.
- Daily Cover: At the end of each operating day, a minimum of six inches of well-compacted earthen material is applied to deter vectors, prevent fires, control odors, contain windblown waste and scavenging.
- Intermediate Cover: Intermediate cover is used when areas that have received waste are inactive for 180 days or more. An additional six inches of earthen material is added to the daily cover. Native seeds are also planted to control erosion.
- Final Cover: When a landfill closes, a final cover system is used to minimize infiltration and erosion. The final cover includes at least two feet of clay-rich soil topped with six inches of earthen material to prevent erosion.
- Size of the Active Disposal Area: Limiting the size of the disposal area allows for quick covering of waste, reducing vector access and enabling close monitoring.
- Pest Management: Professional exterminators may be called if pests appear.
Preventing Odors from Migrating Offsite
The TCEQ regulates nuisance odors that impact human safety, health, or welfare.
What Causes Odors?
Odors are caused by decaying organic matter, like food waste, in landfills. Bacteria break down organic matter, producing sulfides associated with landfill odors.
Odor Prevention Protocols
Landfills employ protocols to prevent odors from impacting surrounding areas, including:
- Properly identifying and burying waste more likely to produce odors.
- Cleaning up spilled waste.
- Minimizing the waste deposition area during daily operations.
- Inspecting and maintaining the leachate collection and storage components.
- Preventing and removing of ponded water.
- Installing methane gas collection and control systems.
- Maintaining a minimum separation distance of 50 feet between solid waste disposal activities and the permit boundary.
Odor Complaints
If you have an odor complaint, direct it to the TCEQ Region office where the landfill is located. Or you can file a complaint online .
Landfill’s Impact on Traffic
TCEQ evaluates landfill applications for the potential impacts on access roads. Traffic studies include:
- The availability and adequacy of access roads.
- Current traffic volume in the area where the landfill is proposed to be constructed.
- Expected traffic volume the landfill will generate on access roads located within a one-mile radius of the facility throughout its operational life.
Maintaining Access Roadways
On roads used to access the landfill, landfills must remove tracked mud, pick up litter daily, regrade roads, and clean up any waste.
Coordination with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
Proposed landfills must work with TxDOT to address roadway improvements, ensuring public safety, human health, and environmental protection.
The Application Review Process
Upon receiving a Type I landfill application, TCEQ follows procedures outlined in the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) to ensure that design and operational components protect health and the environment.
Review Process
TCEQ’s Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Permits Section bases the review of application on the requirements listed in the 30 TAC Chapter 330. A team of project managers with relevant expertise is assigned to each permit application. For instance, groundwater monitoring systems are reviewed by a licensed geologist, and surface drainage plans are reviewed by a licensed engineer.
Notice of Deficiency Process
If application components are missing, incomplete, or inaccurate, project managers issue a notice of deficiency (NOD). The applicant must then revise the application to meet regulatory requirements.
Public Participation Opportunities
- Public comments, meetings, and hearings: The public may submit comments, request a public meeting, or request a contested case hearing on a permit application that is currently under review by the TCEQ.
- View pending municipal solid waste applications: A list of current municipal solid waste applications is found on the Pending Application Information webpage.