EPA wants new review of Louisville landfill

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is calling for a new study of a Louisville landfill because of new reports of waste found during routine monitoring.

The 112-acre Lees Lane landfill in western Louisville was removed from the nation's Superfund list of most toxic places in the 1980s. But an EPA official told The Courier-Journal that now there isn't enough data about the risks at the site.

In 1975 methane at the dump caused flash fires in nearby homes. Testing over the last decade found explosive levels in one methane gas monitoring well between the landfill and homes on several occasions.

New methane monitoring wells installed in the same area in 2010 have not shown elevated gas readings.

EPA officials have called a public meeting for July 19.

Donna K. Seadler, remedial project manager in the Environmental Protection Agency regional office in Atlanta, said the study is needed to look into questions about the Lees Lane dump air monitoring systems, possible soil contamination and the condition of groundwater.