MUNCIE, Ind. - The owner of a closed Muncie landfill has been ordered to take corrective action to ensure the facility is safe and to help keep out students from a neighboring elementary school.
The Sanisite Landfill sits next door to South View Elementary School. Students said they sometimes go onto the property through holes in the fence.
Indiana Department of Environmental Management inspectors said storm water is ponding in low areas, some waste was found on the ground, and trees need to be removed so grass that would prevent erosion can grow.
"The landfill cap is required to be maintained," IDEM spokesman Barry Sneed told The Star Press. "IDEM staff has been inspecting landfill sites that were closed before the new rule was passed in 1989 to get a good grasp on inventory in the state. Any risk to the public would be if someone trespasses on the property and is exposed to buried trash, or leachate running off of the landfill. Maintaining the cap ensures greater public safety."
The landfill operated in the 1970s and is owned by Carol Willitzer. She could not be reached for comment.
Inspectors said Willitzer was present for the inspection and has been notified that trees at the site need to be removed, re-grading and more soil are needed to prevent ponding, more security fencing is needed to keep motor vehicles out and exposed waste needs to be re-buried.
"We discussed the corrective action that needs to be done and they agreed to do it," Sneed said.
The landfill once accepted city waste and was covered with soil when it closed, but the soil was not that deep. Research done by a Ball State graduate student in 1985 found waste at levels ranging from eight inches to 24 inches below the surface.
The site also showed evidence that it had been used as an off-road motorcycle track.
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