DEC: Demolition pit steaming, not smoking

PALMER — After traveling to the site and watching crews uncover the troublesome spot, state regulators say they’re satisfied the discharge from a local private landfill Tuesday was steam, not smoke.

“We’re satisfied this is not a fire, it’s strictly degradation,” said Lori Aldrich, the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Solid Waste Program Coordinator.

She said that next to a steaming pile of dirt mixed with wood and other construction debris.

Had the gas been smoke, she said, that debris would have looked a lot different.

“We would’ve seen melted plastic. We would’ve seen charred wood. We would’ve gotten smoke instead of a sulfur gas,” Aldrich said.

The site, owned by Alaska Demolition and situated at the corner of Rebarchek Avenue and Inner Springer Loop, is a former gravel pit the company has been steadily filling with construction debris since 2004.

The gas became an issue Tuesday morning as commuters were leaving for work. Many reported a terrible smell in the area.

Aldrich said that was likely compounded by a very large burn going on at a site a mile and a half from the Alaska Demolition site. The steam coming from the Alaska Demolition had a rotten eggs/sulfurous smell. The wood burning a mile and a half away, of course, would have added a burning wood smell.

Palmer assistant fire chief Bruce Axtell said that weather also played a role. Burning in the winter is a good idea on most days. One major exception would be on days when a temperature inversion traps smoke close to the ground.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.