Ordot Dump

Ordot Dump comprises 63 acres (25 ha)[1] in the community of Ordot in the village municipality of Chalan Pago-Ordot. It lies about 2.5 miles (4 km) south of Guam's capital Hagåtña and about 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of the intersection of Guam Highway 4 and Dero Drive.[2]

The landfill is located in the upland at the divide between the southern volcanic and northern limestone geologic provinces. A 1988 EPA report noted that a suspected geologic fault under the landfill may provide a connection to the primary aquifer providing drinking water for Guam. The dump is located in a ravine that is a tributary to the Lonfit River, which itself feeds into the Pago River, which empties into Pago Bay on Guam's eastern coast with the Pacific Ocean.[3] The soil underlying the landfill is very fine-grained volcanic sediment with high clay content. Its low levels of permeability may explain the lack of evidence for bacteria and heavy metals migrating into the soil. The midpoint of the landfill is a peak of approximately 90 metres (300 ft).[4]

It is unknown when the site was first used for waste disposal, but it was in use prior to World War II. During the Japanese occupation of Guam, it continued to be used for disposal.[2] Following the Second Battle of Guam, the U.S. Navy had absolute control over Guam and created the sole landfill on the island at Ordot Dump, with an unlined bottom and uncapped top. As part of the Guam Organic Act of 1950, the United States unilaterally transferred Ordot Dump to the Government of Guam (GovGuam) to operate as a municipal landfill. However, the Navy continued to use the Ordot Dump through the Korean and Vietnam Wars.[5] In the 1970s, with the creation of military landfill options, it became solely a civilian landfill and remained the only public landfill on Guam until its closure in 2011.[5]

There are multiple anecdotes that the site was used to dump polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-containing wastes, pesticides and military ordnance, but there is no confirming documentation. It is considered common knowledge on Guam that both Japanese and U.S. forces placed unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the dump, in particular during World War II, with multiple anecdotes of explosions at the landfill sometimes causing fires. However, there are no records of serious injuries resulting from these explosions. Based on the history of the site, it is believed that any remaining UXO would be located in the northwest corner of the existing landfill. There have been many fires at the landfill; since 1990, there has been an average of a fire every two years. The only substantial documentation of these fires is of a 1998 tire fire that continued burning underground and was largely left to burn itself out.[2] The Legislature of Guam appropriated $250,000 to cover the costs of fire at the landfill that occurred on 25 October 2002.[6] The nearby residents of Chalan Pago-Ordot protested the presence of the dump, which forced evacuations when subsurface fires emerged, gave off a bad smell particularly after heavy rains, contaminated the nearby Lonfit River, and sustained a large number of flies that occupied the nearby area.[7]

Following the enactment of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), the Governor of Guam designated Ordot Dump as Guam's highest priority for Superfund clean-up. It was then included on the initial National Priorities List that was finalized on 8 September 1983. On 26 March 1986, the United States Environmental Protection Agency found Ordot Landfill in violation of the Clean Water Act because of discharge of landfill leachate into the Lonfit River without a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, and ordered the Dump to cease discharges. In its final Record of Decision, the EPA noted as potentially responsible parties for the contamination as the U.S. Navy, GovGuam, and the Department of Public Works, among other reported landfill users.[3] In response to continued discharge of leachate, on 24 July 1990 the EPA ordered the Guam Department of Public Works to cease the discharge from the Dump.[8] In 2002 the Federal government sought to require GovGuam to pay for the cleanup, rather than use Federal Superfund money, though GovGuam continued to insist that they could not afford the cost of a cleanup.[9] On 11 February 2004, after continued discharge in violation of the Clean Water Act, the District Court of Guam issued a Consent Decree in which GovGuam agreed to cease the discharge of pollutants from Ordot Dump, close Ordot Dump within 45 months, begin implementing a post-closure plan, and obtain permits for and begin operating a new municipal sanitary waste landfill within 44 months.[8] As part of the settlement, the Consent Decree stated that it was entered into "without any finding or admission of liability against or by the Government of Guam."[9] On 17 March 2008, the District Court, noting the lack of progress in implementing the 2004 Consent Decree, appointed as Federal Receiver the company Gershmann, Brickner & Bratton, Inc. (GBB) to manage and supervise Guam's Solid Waste Management Division and achieve compliance with the Consent Decree. On 31 August 2011, Ordot Dump was closed and its role taken by the newly constructed Layon Landfill in Inalåhan, which began operation on 1 September 2011.[8]

• List of Superfund sites in Guam

• Guam Solid Waste Receiver