DEP scrutinizes Oxford waste transfer station

OXFORD – Discoveries of heaps of crumbly asbestos, animal carcasses and signs of waste oil at the Oxford transfer station have prompted the state Department of Environmental Protection to look more closely at what’s being left at the facility.

The DEP visited the waste transfer station in June and found numerous problems. When an inspector revisited the site in late July, he found the asbestos and other problems hadn’t been taken care of.

The materials pose health risks because the transfer station is above an aquifer and near a well that serves a nearby trailer park, said Bill Butler of the DEP, who has ordered the problems to be cleaned up. Butler said hazardous materials are not allowed in transfer stations.

“We have over 400 municipalities and over half of them have transfer stations,” said Butler. “This is far worse than most we inspect. It demonstrates a town in severe noncompliance.”

So far, Oxford has been billed $20,250 for cleaning up 300 pounds of asbestos, which DEP said was illegally handled. During an inspection, animal carcasses were found heaped near the asbestos. Those were among more than two dozen problems that were found at the transfer station.

Butler said there was no control over waste oil spilled at the site. DEP also found two piles of discarded tree stumps. The DEP considers discarded tree stumps an environmental hazard because, when packed into a landfill, the wood can release toxins into a water source.

DEP has not yet leveled fines.

Besides being directly above an important aquifer, the Oxford transfer station has grown to a point that it is now within 100 feet of two or more protected natural resources, Butler said.

Randy Pike, the transfer station operator, said he believes that in late June, someone used one of the many all-terrain vehicle roads behind the landfill to dump the hazardous debris.