SPSA cleared for work moving dirt at Suffolk landfill

SUFFOLK

The city has allowed SPSA to resume a dirt-moving operation at its landfill, ending an impasse that the regional trash authority said could cost it more than $250,000.

The city had ordered the Southeastern Public Service Authority in early March to stop moving dirt from an undeveloped portion of its landfill. The city said the work had triggered several conditions on a permit that SPSA had not yet met.

The city lifted the stop-work order Friday, authority spokesman Tom Kreidel said. That followed SPSA's submission of a revised erosion and sediment control plan and an agreement to build an evergreen buffer at the site, Kreidel said.

SPSA, which is struggling with debt, was using the dirt to top off portions of its landfill. Last week, its board voted to transfer $250,000 from another capital project to import soil and cover other costs after Suffolk's order. SPSA also incurred just under $32,000 in additional expenses because it had to continue to pay a contractor despite the work stoppage, Kreidel said. The buffer was one of the conditions attached to a permit for future expansion of the landfill. That will cost about $40,000, Kreidel said.

City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn told SPSA that Suffolk was trying to ensure the work at the landfill met state requirements for land disturbance.