Blockhouse Valley Landfill pollution raises concern
Report shows elevated benzene and manganese levels
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank talks to Law Direc tor Jay Yeager after an Anderson County Commission meeting. (photo:Ben Pounds )
Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager discussed the report from contractor Arcadis with the County Commission at its May 20 meeting.
The full report is in that meeting’s agenda. Arcadis works with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, which approved the report.
The closed landfill
is at 1480 Blockhouse Valley Road.
Yeager said Arcadis reported “elevated levels of benzene and manganese.”
The studies observed benzene in springs, while the manganese was in groundwater, meaning water that’s in gaps between rocks or soil.
Yeager said earlier in May that a tree had fallen on the overflow culvert in Godwin Pond, which filters surface and subsurface water in the area. However, he said TDEC had told him things were going well.
“TDEC informed us that our numbers were very good in Godwin Pond,” he said. “There was no problem with some of that leaking out.”
People with Arcadis, he said, were on site the afternoon it happened and would fix the problem “post haste.”
In an email, sent June 6, Yeager said that workers had by that time cleared the trees at Godwin Pond and temporarily repaired leaks there.