Stone’s Throw Landfill near Tallassee is being sued by nearby residents for alleged conditions created by the landfill.
The Beasley Allen Law Firm in Montgomery filed a lawsuit on behalf Herbert Mason and other nearby generational property owners alleging cancer-causing pollutants primarily PFAS were released into central Alabama water supplies.
“The families living near this landfill shouldn’t suffer at the hands of large waste management corporations,” Beasley Allen attorney Gavin King said. “They did not ask for this landfill to be in their backyard, and they should not suffer the consequences of its mismanagement. There are others in the community affected by the defendants’ reckless conduct. Hopefully, this case will encourage them to come forward and hold these defendants accountable for endangering human and environmental health.”
King said Stone’s Throw Landfill pollutants have exposed residents and landowners of the Ashurst Bar-Smith, just east of Tallassee and in Tallapoosa County to hazardous chemicals and compounds.
“The landfill releases pollutants into Gleeden Branch and Mill Creek, Chewacla Creek, referred to locally as Eufalby Creek or Uphapee Creek, its tributaries and the Tallapoosa River,” King said. “The pollutants have contaminated water, including creeks and groundwater, in southern Tallapoosa and northern Macon counties.”
The pollutants come from leachate which is formed when water seeps through landfill material and takes on the chemical characteristics of the waste through which it passes, is a black, foul-smelling liquid generally containing pollutants like heavy metals, pathogens, and Per- and polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). Two types of PFAS — PFOA and PFOS — cause multiple health problems, including thyroid disease, cancer and weakened immune system.
“Stone’s Throw Landfill produces leachate containing PFAS at levels well above recognized health advisory levels and other toxins,” King said. “These high levels pose a serious threat to the health and safety of the residents surrounding the landfill, especially where leachate leaks into the water supply.”
The suit names Stone’s Throw Landfill owner GFL Environmental Services and former owner Advanced Disposal Services and their subsidiaries. Suits such as this always name several current and former managers.
“The defendants were aware that pollutants from their landfill were entering the local water table and flowing to nearby residents’ properties,” King said. “They knew they needed to repair the landfill to prevent contamination and failed to do so, needlessly risking human and environmental health.”
Much of the property surrounding the landfill has been passed down generation after generation. The landfill has come into existence on a large scale in only the last 40 years. Tallapoosa County receives a tipping fee from garbage dumped at the landfill. The fees are largely used by the Tallapoosa County Commission through its discretionary fund. The discretionary fund is used countywide as the commissioner decides what programs benefit.
The funds have been used as matching grants for volunteer fire departments, to help education programs and purchase equipment for road maintenance.
Despite the benefits from the tipping fee, some distributed almost 50 miles away, King said the damage from the landfill is too large.
“Herbert Mason… has suffered and continues to suffer damages from exposure to harmful levels of hazardous chemicals and compounds caused by the defendants,” King said in the lawsuit. “...[Mason’s] land, surface waters, groundwater, drinking water and other real and personal property is being contaminated by leachate-based pollutants from Stone’s Throw Landfill, which have been unlawfully released.”
The lawsuit stated the landfill doesn’t have a permit to release leachate.
“Through documented leaks at the Stone’s Throw Landfill, leachate escapes, migrates and flows into the water table,” King said in the lawsuit. “Years of leachate leaking has polluted and continues to pollute the underlying aquifer adjacent to the landfill which is also connected to [Mason’s].”
The lawsuit requests damages “commensurate to the level of injuries caused by the defendants including compensatory and consequential damages as well as punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury.”
According to court records, as of Monday morning GFL and others have not been served notice of the lawsuit.
Attempts by The Tribune to contact GFL for comment were unsuccessful.