HISTORY AND FIVE-YEAR REVIEWS: CEDARTOWN MUNICIPAL LANDFILL SUPERFUND SITE, CEDARTOWN, POLK COUNTY, GEORGIA

Cedartown Municipal Landfill Superfund Site in Polk County, Georgia was originally developed in the 1880’s as an iron ore strip mine. Mining operations at the Site ceased in early 1900’s. The city of Cedartown used the open pits from the mining operations as a sanitary landfill. These pits contained native clay and, in some areas, had been partially backfilled with clay stockpiled from mining operations. The landfill primarily received municipal solid waste although it did receive some industrial waste including industrial waste sludge, animal and vegetable fats and oils, liquid dye wastes, latex paint, and plant trash. The 94-acre landfill was closed in 1979 with a layer of clay varying in thickness from 1 to 12 feet and a vegetative cover.

The Site was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in March 1989. Pursuant to an EPA administrative order on consent executed in 1990, the potentially responsible party committee completed remedial investigation (RI) in June 1992 and feasibility study in August 1992. A Record of Decision was issued in 1993. The selected remedial action included cover maintenance, institutional controls, and monitored natural attenuation to address contaminated groundwater and leachate.

The Site was delisted from the NPL in early 1999. Manganese was the only contaminant of concern in groundwater requiring deed restrictions on the Site. The first two five-year reviews recommended maintenance and inspection of the landfill cover. A recommendation was made in the third five-year review in 2011 to restore the wooded landfill cover and to properly maintain and regularly inspect the cover. The recommendation was not implemented due to personnel changes at the city.

Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) participated with the EPA in the fourth five-year review in 2016. The state’s Hazardous Waste Trust Fund supported a study of natural attenuation of the landfill waste. The study, the scope of which had not been attempted since the RI in 1992, shows the groundwater and surface water have improved and an engineered cap is no longer considered necessary. Historical groundwater analytical data indicated that manganese was unrelated to landfill impacts. GAEPD’s analysis of the geology (Newala Limestone) and iron formation (sedimentary origin) demonstrates that manganese is related to the iron mining that preceded the landfill. Reuse of the Site is one of the recommendations made in the fourth five-year review.