County begins removal of Troy landfill debris pile

The saga of the minimally contaminated wood-chip pile at the Troy city landfill will very soon be a thing of the past.

Last Thursday, the section of the brush pile determined to contain a trace of asbestos-contaminated wood debris was chipped and hauled to the Stage II secured area of the Lincoln County Landfill.

“It was literally one fiber (detected),” said County Environmental Health Director Kathi Hooper.

Hooper said subsequent tests found no detection.

The remainder of the wood debris pile will be burned, said Lincoln County Troy Commissioner Ron Downey.

Hooper said the county’s permit to remedy the pile takes effect Sept. 25 and at a point after that, the county will take care of the pile. She said the permit is valid until the end of November.

Downey can hardly wait.

 “We’ll wait for a couple of good days of rain so the ground is moist, and we’ll burn it,” he said. “I’ll light the match.”

The 80-yard-long by 50-yard-wide pile is 15-feet high in some places. The wood debris has been accumulating for three years and the county has had its hands tied by federal and state agencies that have been concerned about the section of the pile containing the asbestos-contaminated debris.

Hooper said the massive pile, which is usually was eliminated twice a year, has been accumulating for three years and has made maneuvering at the landfill difficult.

“There was no room for trailers to turn around,” she said.