Spices found to be a significant source of lead poisoning in Douglas County
Waste Management officials said Tuesday it was a business decision to bring waste from a Kansas oil pipeline spill to a landfill outside of Omaha, and sought to assure concerned Douglas County officials that the contaminated soil and debris don’t pose a threat to the local environment.
“It’s just economics,” Mike Hey, area disposal manager for Waste Management of Nebraska Inc., told Douglas County Board members who questioned why the waste was being disposed of in Nebraska.
Waste Management won the bid to dispose of the waste from Keystone Pipeline owner TC Energy’s cleanup of the Dec. 7 leak, which spilled nearly 600,000 gallons of tar sands oil into Mill Creek and surrounding land in rural Washington County, Kansas.
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Hey said the Pheasant Point Landfill, outside Bennington in rural Douglas County, was one of the two Waste Management landfills closest to the spill site that are qualified to take the waste. The other is near Topeka, Kansas.
Hey said he decided on the Omaha-area landfill because it is better equipped to handle such a spike in waste. Pheasant Point is a little larger than the Topeka landfill and has more workers and more heavy equipment, Hey told the board.
“It’s not uncommon to take petroleum-contaminated soils in this area,” Hey said, citing leaking gas station tanks as an example. “We have a customer who comes to us and says, ‘Hey, we have this big oil spill.’ We all saw it in the news. ... They estimate the amount of tonnage that they think they’re going to bring us or cubic yards. We present them with our options of what we have in the area.”
He declined to say how much Waste Management is being paid to dispose of the waste.
Waste Management owns and operates the landfill, but Douglas County collects fees for materials dumped there. The county is being paid $3 a ton for the Kansas oil spill waste.
Kent Holm, Douglas County environmental services manager, set the rate under authority given to him by the County Board. Holm said he does not have the authority to reject materials that the landfill is qualified to receive under federal and state regulations.
So far about 34,000 tons, or about 48,000 cubic yards, of waste from the Kansas spill has been deposited at Pheasant Point, Hey said. He currently expects that amount to double, although it’s likely to climb higher as the federal Environmental Protection Agency directs the cleanup.
For perspective, Pheasant Point Landfill typically takes in about 500,000 tons of solid waste each year.
An outside laboratory, Pace Analytical, has analyzed multiple samples and found the waste to be non-hazardous under government regulations, according to documents that Waste Management gave the County Board on Tuesday, and to records online at the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. Samples must be submitted for testing for every 2,000 cubic yards of contaminated debris.
County Board members had asked specifically about levels of benzene, a carcinogenic material that’s used in the Keystone Pipeline. Josh Buehre, waste approval manager for Waste Management of Nebraska, said the federal regulatory limit for benzene is 500 parts per billion. The highest amount of benzene in a sample so far, Buehre said, was 79 parts per billion in such waste as booms and absorbent materials used to contain the spread.
County Board Member Maureen Boyle said she was particularly pleased to hear the testing is being done by a third party and reassured by the Waste Management officials’ description of how the landfill is designed to contain the materials and monitor for potential leaks and their experience with this type of waste.
“I feel reassured with what they presented that the contamination risk is just minimal,” Boyle said.
County Board member Jim Cavanaugh said he had not yet been through the lengthy documents and plans to ask someone with more expertise to study them.
“They gave us information that we had requested at the meeting, which we will now analyze and follow up with whatever questions we may have to get to a final answer on the whole issue of the Keystone oil spill waste coming to Nebraska,” Cavanaugh said.
He said that he’s “not particularly interested in receiving waste” from a Kansas oil spill and that the county should revisit its provisions that allow that to happen.
Photos: Omaha streets and how they got their names
Dodge Street
Dodge Street: Dodge was believed to be named for U.S. Sen. Augustus Caesar Dodge, of Iowa, who championed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 — along with Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, for whom Douglas Street is named. The 1854 act established the two territories, opened new lands, repealed the 1820 Missouri Compromise and allowed new settlers to decide whether they would allow slavery. But, over the years, it became less clear of the origin of the street name, and many took issue with what they called Augustus Caesar Dodge's pro-slavery stances. And so, in 2016, an effort was launched to officially name Dodge Street in honor of Civil War Brig. Gen. Grenville Mellen Dodge and his brother, real estate pioneer N.P. Dodge. Those efforts were approved by the city, county and state in 2016.
Jones Street
Jones Street: Alfred D. Jones did Omaha City’s first survey in 1854. It was said that, as Omaha’s first postmaster, the lawyer carried the mail in his hat.
Johnny Rodgers Street
Johnny Rodgers Street: Marlin Briscoe, left, and Johnny Rodgers pose for a photo before a ceremony to rename a section of Burt Street, between 30th and 33rd Streets, Johnny Rodgers Street on July 30, 2015. Read more
Capitol Avenue
Capitol Avenue: This route led from the Missouri River to the second Nebraska territorial capitol, located on top of a hill near 20th and Dodge Streets. That building was replaced by Omaha High School in 1872, then by the school’s second building, which was completed in 1912. Omaha High School is now known as Omaha Central High School.
Mike Fahey Street
Mike Fahey Street: Fahey, pictured in 2009 at the ceremony renaming seven blocks of Webster Street from 10th Street to Creighton University as Mike Fahey Street, was the city’s longest-serving mayor since the City Charter was approved by voters in 1956.
A.V. Sorensen Parkway
A.V. Sorensen Parkway: Omaha businessman Axel Vergman Sorensen, mayor from 1965 to 1969, chaired a convention in 1956 that wrote the city’s current governing charter.
Farnam Street
Farnam Street: Originally the main drag in Omaha, Farnam Street was named for railroad promoter Henry Farnam.
Bob Gibson Boulevard
Bob Gibson Boulevard: Bob Gibson speaks after the unveiling of the street named after him in 1999. Deer Park Boulevard near Rosenblatt Stadium was renamed Bob Gibson Boulevard after the former St. Louis Cardinal pitching great and Hall of Fame member. Read more
Neal Mosser Boulevard
Neal Mosser Boulevard: The stretch of Cuming Street from 30th to 33rd Streets was named after longtime Tech High basketball coach Neal Mosser in 2005. His coaching tenure stretched from 1948 to the late 1960s, and he was recognized as a positive influence on countless athletes, including Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson and NBA star and Olympic gold medalist Bob Boozer.
Bud Crawford Street
Bud Crawford Street: Larimore Avenue between 31st Avenue and 33rd Street was designated Terence "Bud" Crawford Street. The professional boxer was born and raised on that stretch of Larimore. Read more
Millard Avenue
Millard Avenue: Ezra Millard was president of the Omaha National Bank, which he organized in 1866. In 1871, he bought the land that was to become Millard.
Carol Van Metre Lane
Carol Van Metre Lane: Named in honor of the late Carol Van Metre, who worked to help ensure that the children of Omaha had parks and fields in which to play. It winds east from 24th Street at Woolworth Avenue and leads to Columbus Park, the Columbus Community Center, and Van Metre Field, which is named for Carol’s husband, Dave. Read more
College World Series Avenue
College World Series Avenue: The section of 13th Street between Cuming Street and Mike Fahey Street was renamed College World Series Avenue in 2011 as a permanent reminder that TD Ameritrade Park is the home of the CWS. Read more
Dave Rimington Street
Dave Rimington Street: Mayor Mike Fahey with football great and philanthropist Dave Rimington, an Omaha South grad, during the dedication of the 20th Street to 24th Street section of L Street as Dave Rimington Street in 2002. Rimington redefined the center position at Nebraska, winning two Outland Trophies and a Lombardi Award before launching a seven-year NFL career. Read more
Boyd Street
Boyd Street: James E. Boyd was twice mayor of Omaha in the 1880s. The Irish immigrant became governor of Nebraska in 1890.
California Street
California Street: Gold seekers headed west for California landed near this street after crossing the Missouri River.
Cuming Street
Cuming Street: Secretary of the Nebraska Territory and acting Gov. Thomas B. Cuming convened the first Nebraska Territorial Legislature in Omaha in 1854, making Omaha the capital.
Harney Street
Harney Street: At the outbreak of the Civil War, Gen. William S. Harney was commander of the Department of the West.
Kyle Wayne LeFlore Street
Kyle Wayne LeFlore Street: The block of 29th Street between Fowler Ave and Meredith Ave was renamed Kyle Wayne LeFlore Street in honor of Sgt. LeFlore on July 20, 2018. LeFlore was slain in Omaha while on holiday vacation from the military. Read more
Marlin Briscoe Way
Marlin Briscoe Way: Marlin Briscoe, the first black starting quarterback in the NFL and an Omaha South High School graduate, was honored with a street named in his honor. Read more
Military Avenue
Military Avenue: This part of the original Overland Trail twisted through Omaha and Benson starting in 1857. It was used to move military supplies to Fort Kearny and by settlers heading to the Northwest. In 1994, part of Military Road near 82nd and Fort Streets was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Minne Lusa Boulevard
Minne Lusa Boulevard: Minne Lusa is a Native American term meaning “clear water.” A Florence pumping station was on the street. An elementary school of the same name is located near Minne Lusa Boulevard today.
Paxton Boulevard
Paxton Boulevard: William A. Paxton, known as the “real founder of South Omaha,” organized the Union Stockyards Company. He co-founded Paxton & Gallagher Wholesale Grocery, became co-owner of the Paxton & Vierling Iron Works and served in the Nebraska legislature. The Paxton Hotel was named for him.
Poppleton Avenue
Poppleton Avenue: Andrew Jackson Poppleton, a member of the first territorial legislature, was involved in deciding the territorial capital’s location. The attorney successfully represented Standing Bear in the Ponca chief’s 1879 trial. Poppleton served three times as mayor of Omaha.
Saddle Creek Road
Saddle Creek Road: This one sounds like it could be a tall tale, right? Details are sparse, but a man was apparently heading west out of Omaha to make his fortune mining gold. He didn’t get very far before a saddle fell off his wagon and into a creek that then flowed in the area. Hence the name Saddle Creek.
Woolworth Avenue
Woolworth Avenue: Attorney James Woolworth helped develop South Omaha’s stockyards. He wrote and published “The History of Omaha” in 1857. The city was only three years old.
Fred Astaire Avenue
On May 11, 2019, the day after what would’ve been dancing and acting legend Fred Astaire’s 120th birthday, Omaha honored its native son with his own street. The Fred Astaire Avenue sign is visible on 10th Street at Martha Street, less than a block from the house where Astaire was born. The family moved from Omaha to New York City in 1905.
chris.burbach@owh.com, 402-444-1057, twitter.com/CHRISBURBACH
Christopher Burbach
Chris Burbach covers the Douglas County Board, Planning Board and other local government bodies, as well as local neighborhood issues. Follow him on Twitter @chrisburbach. Phone: 402-444-1057.
