Fire-fighters wrestle with blazing cars on dump road

| 12/07/2012

Fire being doused (255x300).jpg(CNS): Another fire near the George Town landfill had local crews battling to dampen the blaze Thursday morning. Plumes of smoke were visible across the capital as five derelict cars caught fire on the edge of Mount Trashmore on Dump Road. Fire crews quickly got the fires under control and out before anyone was hurt but the blazing vehicles created significant smoke and attention. On this occassion it was scrap cars  that caught fire but the landfill often ignites as a result of the decomposition which generates substantial heat.

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  1. noname says:

    Fighting the fire and bad management, Feel sorry for them.

  2. Anonymous says:

    I can't imagine what toxins those fire fighters must be eposed to.  

  3. Anonymous says:

    Ya……and so many nay sayers jumping all over Government and Dart for trying to fix this embarassing problem. Thank you Government and Dart for finally stepping up to deal with this!

     

  4. Uhmmm! says:

    Why dont we move this dump from the capital, and put a dump in each district.  Every one will have their own garbage dump. 

  5. NeoSurvivor says:

    Yet another confirmation of why capping methane-producing organic material is a proposal fraught with peril.   Mount Trashmore must be remediated in-situ.   I am told by my family that even the much smaller Brac dump often smolders for days, and frequently bursts into flame. 

    Capping is a fool's ploy, designed to produce an immediate — but temporary — fix. 

  6. Anonymous says:

    It's so amazingly funny how the dump really grew to be called "Mount Trashmore" locally and internationally… that's bad lol

    • Anonymous says:

      "Mt. Trashmore"  was a public works project to cap the landfill just outside of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It has been remediated and turned into a park. We could learn by their example.

      http://www.virginiabeach.com/kids/mount-trashmore

      Thanks CNS for this diverse site.

      • NeoSurvivor says:

        Just a couple of notes for consideration:

        1.   Mount Trashmore in Virginia was remediated (or so it was claimed) of hazardous materials;   most hazmat materials must then be interred in a Class 3 landfill.    The remaining garbage was then compacted with lifts of clean soil between layers — that is, the garbage was compacted into the layers of soil. 

        2.  Even today, there are several vents, which are designed to release the methane build-up. 

        3.  Vadose zone and other substrate monitoring continues to track and map groundwater and soil contamination.    I'm not certain how many monitoring wells are presently there, nor the cost of oversight and sampling. 

        4.  There are a couple of manmade lakes on the 160+ acres of the park, complete with fish and other amenities.    These lakebeds are lined and the water is also monitored.   

         

        My own opinion — I don't see this kind of dedication, quality control, planning, and oversight as something that we could expect locally with our own Trashmore.  Moreover, crushed rock has many intersticies wherein gas buildups can occur, unlike actual soil, of which we have little.   Our groundwater situation is far more diverse and critical as well.  

        These were my reasons for doubting the applicability of having our dump capped, and my belief that remediating Cayman's Trashmore in place is the only viable option.