State in process of closing Camden landfill

CAMDEN, Tenn. — It’s been over a year since the Environmental Waste Solutions landfill in Benton County closed, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is cleaning up the mess it left behind.

“We’re doing some of the permanent closure procedures today, and we wanted the public to get a chance to see,” said Rudy Collins, regional director for external affairs for TDEC. 

Craig Almanza, an engineer with TDEC, explained the cleanup process. “The goal at the state of Tennessee was redundancy — layer upon layer upon layer of redundant material.”

Community members climbed what was once called “Black Mountain.”

“We have a clay layer. We have a plastic layer on top of that. Each one of those plastic layers is not single welded, but double welded,” Almonza said.

Neighbors say they are glad this landfill is closing. “An abandoned chemical landfill leaching and all this stuff. We had a lot of concerns,” Michael Melton, who lives near the landfill, said.

Residents were concerned about the smell of ammonia coming from the facility, but now that it is shut down, TDEC says that is not a problem.

“We have a top liner and a bottom liner, and basically we’re going to have the waste mass will basically be in an envelope,” Collins said.

Residents say that is good news. “It’s been a long time coming, like I say, but we’re happy to be here so far,” Melton said.

The landfill closure is expected to be completed by the end of the year, but TDEC will monitor it for the next 30 years.