SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
South Lake Tahoe, Calif. – The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will host a meeting to update the community on the Meyers Landfill site on Thursday, November 18, 2010, at 6:00 p.m. at the Forest Supervisor’s office, 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, Calif. The meeting will include an update on the status of construction of the landfill cap, details on the continued forest closure at the site, and information regarding continued investigations into the extent of the contaminated groundwater plume originating at the site, as well as time for questions.
The Meyers Landfill was a municipal landfill operated by El Dorado County under a Forest Service special use permit from approximately 1955 to 1971. Groundwater beneath the site has been impacted by water leaching through the decomposing landfill waste. This has resulted in a groundwater contaminant plume extending approximately 1,600 feet downgradient from the landfill site. El Dorado County is working with a contractor to construct an impermeable cover for the landfill mass, preventing further groundwater contact with the landfill waste and capturing landfill gas emitted from waste decomposition. The Forest Service continues to work with contractors to investigate the contaminated groundwater plume and determine whether additional measures are necessary to address it.
Contractors are currently working to winterize the construction site, and work will resume next season. In the meantime, the Forest Service anticipates extending the closure of Garbage Dump Road and the site itself through the winter due to ongoing safety hazards. “We know this has been a popular area for snowmobiling and other winter activities, ” said Eli Ilano, Acting Forest Supervisor. “We’re asking winter recreationists to respect the closure and relocate their activities this winter, for their own safety.”
For more information on the Meyers Landfill site, visit http://fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/MeyersLandfill. If you are interested in attending the meeting and have questions concerning special needs or want to request sign language interpretation, contact Cheva Heck, Public Affairs Officer, (530) 543-2608 or TTY (530) 543-0956 or vial email at [email protected] by one week prior to the meeting date.
