Suffolk landfill owner agrees to pay for violations

SUFFOLK

John C. Holland Jr. and his private landfill are in hot water again with government regulators.

The owner of the landfill off Nansemond Parkway, which accepts storm debris, construction waste and non-friable asbestos, among other industrial trash, has agreed to pay a $50,000 fine to settle state environmental violations dating to 2009.

Admitting no fault, Holland said Monday he is swallowing the penalty from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for one reason: To fight the charges in court would cost too much.

"It irks the hell out of me," he said, "but I'd have to pay a quarter of a million dollars to take this to a judge. It's not worth it. So I'm paying them their damned money. That's all they wanted anyway."

According to a proposed settlement released Monday, state regulators describe landfill problems related to heavy rain in the fall of 2009 - problems such as exposed waste, muddy runoff and a lack of cover material that still have not been fully corrected.

The agreement says state inspectors have visited the site three times since storms partially washed away earthen slopes of the landfill two years ago and informed Holland of what needs to be done to come into compliance, but shortcomings persist.

"Mr. Holland has a lot of opinions, and he's entitled to them," said Robin Schuhmann, a state enforcement specialist who handled the case. "But we basically disagree with his interpretations of the regulations."

Citing a report from his hired engineer, Holland said most of the problems originate from an "Act of God," meaning rain, and that he is not negligent.

"However, DEQ's staff would not listen to any explanation this independent engineer put forth," he wrote in a cover letter to state officials.

As part of the fine, Holland will dedicate $35,000 to the Suffolk Department of Fire & Rescue to buy environmental equipment and supplies; the state agreed to the deal. The remaining $15,000 must be paid to the state in three installments, the first due next month.

The arrangement is similar to one he agreed to in 1997, when the state sought $200,000 to settle environmental infractions at his Suffolk landfill.

Instead of paying the money outright, he donated the waterworks at his Colonial estate in Nelson County, in west-central Virginia, to the local government, which was short of fresh water. Holland operates a horse-racing track at his estate in the town of Lovington.

In 1995, when he settled a long-standing dispute with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over unpermitted damage to wetlands at his landfill site, Holland says he took a train to Philadelphia so he could hand-deliver the $45,000 check to the EPA enforcement staff.

"I wanted to tell them what I thought of their fine," he has said.

Holland has been a frequent critic of the Southeastern Public Service Authority, a regional agency that competes with him for waste-disposal business. He once sued SPSA's executive director for slander after he poked fun of Holland's environmental record at a public hearing.

Holland sought $6 million in damages, plus a public apology printed in the newspaper. The case was dismissed.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com