Fostoria may resume treating leachate for Sunny Farms

FOSTORIA — The City of Fostoria may be getting back into the business of treating leachate from Sunny Farms Landfill. The city in recent years stopped accepting the landfill's leachate as the facility became embroiled in issues with area communities, Seneca County and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency regarding smells and other problems. Safety Service Director Deb Hellman said during Tuesday night's city council meeting that representatives of the landfill, located about 4 miles south of Fostoria, in Loudon Township, have approached city administrators about the possibility of the facility paying for the upgrade of the ultraviolet disinfection system at the city's wastewater treatment plant and resuming its transportation of leachate to the city. The landfill has been sending its leachate to Marion for treatment. An agreement with Fostoria would save Sunny Farms transportation costs over time, while the city would be receiving fees from the landfill for handling the leachate. Hellman said Todd Jenkins, a consultant from Peterman Associates in Findlay who has been working with the city on an ongoing project at the plant, has been involved in all of details needing to be taken of to enable the agreement to take place. "There was a lot of testing involved, and I want everyone to know that the EPA was involved every step of the way," she said. Jenkins told council the necessary work at the wastewater treatment plant would take four to six months to complete. He said he trusts that working with Sunny Farms on accepting the leachate would not be troublesome for the city. "I've been working with the plant for a couple of years," he said. "There are a lot of good operators out there. They know what they're doing. They care about the plant and they keep their eyes open and want to make sure nothing funny's going on." An extra benefit would be in store for the city, he noted. "There are some disposal costs with the plant project that's going on right now, and Sunny Farms has offered a substantially reduced rate per ton to be able to take waste out to their facility," Jenkins said. "That's going to save the city a lot of money." Hellman said a decision on entering the agreement with Sunny Farms would be executive in nature and would not necessitate action by council. "I think it'll be beneficial for both parties," Hellman said. "It sounds to me like a good situation for everybody concerned," council member Greg Cassidy said during the meeting.