Tontitown resident Kenneth Lovett, a vocal opponent of the Eco-Vista landfill, stands across the street from the facility earlier this month. (Ainsley Platt/Arkansas Advocate)
The latest round of air-quality tests near Tontitown’s landfill is complete, the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment announced Friday.
Environmental consulting firm CTEH conducted the testing, specifically looking for chemicals found in previous air sampling, including benzene, acrolein, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and naphthalene,” a news release from the department said.
“Within 90 days of receiving all final, validated analytical sampling results, CTEH will prepare a draft final report for the study, with feedback from the Arkansas Department of Health.”
All of the chemicals mentioned by the department are toxic to humans and can cause a variety of health problems.
Benzene is a liquid, flammable chemical used in a number of consumer products and industrial processes. Long-term exposure can lead to a number of health problems, including cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Inhalation of acrolein leads to eye and throat irritation and can lead to more serious respiratory congestion, according to the CDC.
Carbon tetrachloride is a highly toxic chemical once used in refrigerants and still used in some industrial processes with serious health consequences for people exposed to it, according to the EPA.
Naphthalene, a common ingredient in mothballs, can cause anemia, liver damage and neurological issues if ingested or inhaled in large concentrations, according to an EPA fact sheet.
Chronic exposure to chloroform can affect the liver and central nervous system, the EPA says.
The testing, which occurred from May 2-11, was the fourth round of tests conducted in response to persistent complaints from nearby residents of overwhelming, noxious odors they say emanate from the Eco-Vista landfill, which is owned by Waste Management and is the only landfill in the region.
The concerns of those living nearby the site, some of whom have said they want the landfill shut down, have bumped up against the waste disposal needs of the region, which has exploded in population since the landfill first opened in 1979.
Complaints and concerns about the landfill started about five years ago, and have grown since then. Tontitown is currently suing in state court over Eco-Vista’s landfill permits.
At a Pollution Control and Ecology Commission meeting last year, Tontitown Mayor Angela Russell said the Division of Environmental Quality had abandoned her town, which is in one of the fastest growing areas of the state, to a landfill that has received nearly 200 complaints in the last five years.
The latest round of testing was necessary, regulators have said, because previous tests did not identify the source of the chemicals in the air, even though the concentrations of acrolein and benzene were above EPA screening levels for residential air. The Arkansas Department of Health concluded after the third round of testing last year that further testing would be required to determine if the landfill was contributing the chemicals to the ambient air.
CTEH conducted the testing, at a cost of $539,966, after bidding on the project.
The division previously said they would not announce when testing would take place in an effort to record “normal activities.” Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, previously accused two unnamed DEQ employees of tipping the landfill off to inspections during a pre-session budget hearing last year.
The town is in the process of suing the commission and Eco-Vista over multiple permitting matters.
Complaints have come into the division regularly over the last few years, but it was only last year that Eco-Vista was cited with violations of Arkansas air pollution laws as a result of odors.
The alleged violations were referred for DEQ’s formal enforcement process.
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