The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has approved the corrective measures plan submitted by the Richland County Solid Waste Management Authority for the former Cairns Road Landfill.

The agency's Board of Trustees discussed the issue at their regular meeting Wednesday.
  
Agency director Ken Bender said the board of trustees have been working for about three years to get a corrective measures plan for the Cairns Road landfill to contain the methane gas migration and leechate removal.
  

Bender said the plan approved by the Ohio EPA outlines the activities that will be done the next four years to maintain the closed landfill.

""The required improvements the EPA wanted to have completed started at around $13 million. We broke this down and addressed the problems projecting that we can do the same amount of work for $2 million. By doing some extensive studies of the landfill through our consulting firm we're able to pinpoint the areas that really needed to be addressed and can be addressed economically."

 In other business, the Ohio EPA also reviewed the agency's operational plans for the next five years.

Bender said the trustees will review the suggestions from the EPA and incorporate the suggestions that will make the plan better. 

He said once the board approves the plan it will be reviewed by the townships, villages and surrounding cities.
He said a public session will be held for input and the plan will be resubmitted to the Ohio EPA for their final approval.