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Shoosmith Landfill
DEQ will update this page regularly as new information and resources become available.
This webpage is dedicated to providing information on the Shoosmith Bros, Inc. (SBI) sanitary landfill (Shoosmith landfill) located at 11520 Iron Bridge Rd. in Chester, Va.
The Shoosmith landfill is located approximately 3 miles northwest of the Town of Chester off State Route 10 in the Dale District of Chesterfield County, Virginia. The facility’s property encompasses about 335.2 acres, with a permitted waste disposal unit boundary of 203.5 acres. The combined capacity of the landfill is approximately 42.1 million cubic yards.
The facility, which opened in 1976, is permitted as a sanitary landfill (SWP587). The landfill accepted mostly municipal solid waste (MSW), but has also been allowed to accept asbestos, industrial & sewage sludge, construction/demolition waste, petroleum contaminated waste, and other waste types from Virginia and select locations outside of Virginia.
The landfill is currently inactive (not accepting waste) and preparing for closure.
More Information
- The landfill is currently inactive (not receiving waste) and preparing for closure.
- Final landfill capping and closure is scheduled to begin in August 2026 with completion scheduled for November 2026.
- Approximately 170 acres of the 203-acre landfill have received final cover. Repair and improvements to additional areas is anticipated in the final closure process.
- Bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing.
- The bankruptcy trustee is overseeing necessary landfill operations in cooperation with DEQ.
- The bankruptcy trustee contracts with the landfill consulting and engineering firm, SCS Engineers, to oversee landfill closure, site engineering activities, and environmental management.
- Landfill leachate is entirely disposed of by hauling the leachate/wastewater to a permitted off-site wastewater treatment facility — it is not discharging to Swift Creek or Piney Branch
- Landfill leachate removal occurs at a variable rate between approximately 20,000 gallons per day and 100,000 gallons per day.
- A leachate management area upgrade to provide secondary containment and improved leachate storage infrastructure is scheduled for construction in August 2026.
- The landfill is not authorized to discharge industrial wastewater to the County sewer system at this time.
- On-site landfill leachate treatment infrastructure for eventual discharge of treated leachate to the County sewer is in the conceptual design and testing phase.
- Efforts to segregate lower strength leachate for direct discharge to the County sewer system are under review
- Landfill gas is collected from wells installed throughout the landfill for conversion into pipeline-quality natural gas; this is performed by a separately owned and co-located facility.
- Landfill gas is extracted from the landfill at a rate of approximately 2800 standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM).
- Continuous landfill gas collection and control continues without interruption since bankruptcy.
- Monthly landfill gas extraction well monitoring continues without interruption since bankruptcy.
- Weekly and monthly landfill gas subsurface migration monitoring continues without interruption since bankruptcy.
- Weekly landfill surface and site inspections continue without interruption since bankruptcy.
- Semi-annual stormwater outfall monitoring continues without interruption since bankruptcy.
- Quarterly groundwater monitoring is scheduled to restart in the third quarter of 2026.
- Quarterly Swift Creek surface water monitoring is scheduled to restart in the third quarter 2026.
- Quarterly landfill surface gas emission monitoring is scheduled to restart in the third quarter 2026.
- 1976-2022: Shoosmith Bros. Inc. (SBI) accepted municipal, commercial, construction/demolition, and industrial wastes.
- 2018: SBI sought to expand operations to neighboring quarry - Chesterfield County denied land use application and denial was upheld in court.
- April 2020: SBI contracted with Morrow Energy (via Swift Creek Renewables, LLC) to capture and process methane for sale via natural gas pipelines.
- 2022: Construction of gas treatment facility began, along with expansion of gas collection system. Landfill subsequently ran out of airspace and ceased accepting waste.
- Early 2023: Temperature readings at ~12 gas extraction wells reached 165–170°F, indicating potential Elevated Temperature Landfill (ETLF) condition.
- July 2024: Chesterfield County issued Administrative Order prohibiting leachate discharge to sanitary sewer. DEQ issued emergency permit to temporarily expand onsite leachate storage while landfill transitioned to hauling leachate offsite at far greater cost. Higher temperatures and increased leachate production simultaneously reduced gas production and revenues.
- June 2025: SBI declared bankruptcy.
Landfills are engineered structures constructed to contain waste and waste byproducts, such as leachate and gas, and to prevent pollution from getting into the environment.
Virginia Solid Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-81) govern the life of a landfill including siting, design, construction, operation, environmental monitoring, closure and post-closure care.
DEQ issues solid waste permits to applicants to construct and operate a landfill. Permitting a landfill consists of a two-stage process (Part A and Part B) which can take several years to complete. Part A involves evaluation of the siting (location) of the landfill, and Part B evaluates the design, construction, operation, environmental monitoring, closure, and post-closure care.
During the Part A process the applicant has to provide a certification from the locality that the proposed landfill is consistent with local zoning ordinances and the planning district’s Solid Waste Management Plan. Some localities may require Special Use Permits or Conditional Use Permits, which outline requirements the landfill needs to meet for the locality.
Once a solid waste permit is issued by DEQ, it does not expire. However, it can be modified to reflect changes at the facility.
DEQ created a Landfill 101 webinar as part of DEQ’s Education Series. The webinar provides additional detail on landfill types, regulations, permitting, design, landfill lifecycle and DEQ’s role in regulating landfills.
The facility is subject to Virginia Article 43.1 regulations, which implement 40 CFR 60 Federal Emission Guidelines Subpart Cf regulations, and is also subject to 40 CFR 63 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) Subpart AAAA regulations. These regulations identify the requirements necessary to determine if a landfill must install a gas collection and control system, and the minimum operational standards for landfills subject to gas collection and control system requirements.
Solid Waste Permit: The Shoosmith Landfill was originally permitted under solid waste permit number SWP211 issued by the Department of Health in September 1976. This permit was incorporated into solid waste permit SWP587 during a permit modification in December 1995.
The landfill consists of the Original Cell, Cells A-C, Cells 1-18 and Cells 22-26. The final landfill cell (Cell 25) was constructed in November 2021. (Note landfill cells were not constructed in numerical order).
The permit includes modules which outline: requirements for operation (Module II), sanitary landfill design (Module III), landfill gas management and remediation (Module III), leachate management (Modules II and III), groundwater monitoring (Modules X and XI), closure (Module XII) and post-closure care (Module XIII). General permit conditions and information are provided in Module I and the permit introduction, respectively.
VPDES Industrial Stormwater General Permit: Stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity at the Shoosmith landfill are covered under the Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) General Permit No. VAR051684. Coverage under the general permit became effective July 1, 2024, and the general permit will expire on June 30, 2029. The permit requires the facility to maintain and implement a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and to conduct benchmark monitoring and effluent limitation monitoring at a number of outfalls discharging stormwater to Swift Creek and Piney Branch. Semi-annual discharge sampling and quarterly visual monitoring are required.
All permitted solid waste management facilities (e.g., landfills, transfer stations, compost facilities, etc.) are required to have financial assurance which is a financial mechanism to ensure that money will be available to cover the cost of landfill closure, post-closure care, and groundwater corrective action (if applicable) should an owner/operator abandon a site or go bankrupt. Financial mechanisms can take the form of surety bonds, a certificate of deposit, a letter of credit, etc.
As part of the Closure Plan and Post-Closure Plan — submitted during the permitting process — the permittee must provide cost estimates for closure and post-closure care based on the closure design for the facility. The costs should represent expected costs at the time when closure would be most expensive and for the work to be completed by a third party.
In 2023, Shoosmith landfill had closure/post-closure cost estimates totaling $19,329,530; however, those estimates were based on the cost of discharging leachate to the Chesterfield County sewer system under a pretreatment permit that the landfill had from the county. As elevated temperature conditions developed at the landfill, the amount of leachate generated increased, and the quality of the leachate started to decrease. Additionally, the landfill operator began discharging partially or untreated leachate to the county sewer system. This resulted in impacts to one of the county's wastewater treatment plants. As a result, Chesterfield County issued an Administrative Order on July 3, 2024, prohibiting leachate discharge to the sanitary sewer. This required DEQ to issue an emergency permit to expand onsite leachate storage at the landfill while the landfill transitioned to pumping and hauling leachate off-site for treatment and disposal — a much more expensive alternative for leachate management.
In December 2024, after a review of the landfill's financial assurance and in consideration of the increased leachate management costs, DEQ requested Shoomith to provide updated closure and post-closure care cost estimates and increased financial assurance. The landfill never provided update cost estimates or increased financial assurance. They filed chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2025.
Current financial assurance regulations address landfill closure, post closure care, and groundwater corrective action. Given increased understanding of elevated temperature landfills (ETLF) and the associated impacts an ETLF can have on landfill leachate, landfill gas, and the associated costs that can arise from ETLF conditions, DEQ recognized that changes were needed to the existing Financial Assurance Regulations (9VAC20-70) to account for the additional corrective action costs associated with ETLF conditions.
On June 17, 2026 DEQ submitted a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA) to amend the Financial Assurance Regulations to ensure that financial assurance is sufficient to cover costs for leachate pretreatment systems, closure, post-closure care, and any necessary corrective action and remediation at a solid waste management facility as well as corresponding amendments to the Solid Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-81) that might also be necessary. The NOIRA was published in the Virginia Register on July 13, 2026 and a public comment period is in progress through August 12, 2026. Comments may be made on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall comment forum for this action.
The 2026-2028 Biennium Budget, which was signed on June 30, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, also directs DEQ to revise the Financial Assurance Regulations to "...ensure that financial assurance is sufficient for design, construction, and operation of: i) a landfill cap, ii) leachate management, iii) gas collection and management and iv) other activities necessary to maintain the landfill in a manner that protects human health and the environment. The regulations shall also ensure that financial assurance is sufficient to address the possibility of an elevated temperature landfill." (Item 365 C of Chapter 1 of the 2026 Special Session I Acts of Assembly) The budget also provides that the regulatory actions necessary to implement this item in the budget are exempt from the Administrative Process Act and do not have to go before the Virginia Waste Management Board.
Leachate is required to be managed in accordance with the leachate control requirements of the solid waste regulations. A landfill’s Design Report or Leachate Management Plan outlines the site-specific design of the leachate collection and storage system. Landfills must install leachate collection systems to capture leachate that accumulates on the bottom liner. Leachate either drains by gravity or is pumped out of the landfill and stored in leachate collection tanks or lined ponds onsite until it can be directed to a treatment system or removed for off-site treatment and disposal. Landfills may be required to pre-treat leachate before discharging it to sewer systems or pumping and hauling it offsite for further treatment at a wastewater treatment plant. Regulations require that "The leachate collection system shall be designed and constructed to maintain less than a 30 cm depth of leachate over the liner, excluding manifold trenches and sumps." July 2026 measurements of leachate levels at the Shoosmith landfill indicate a maximum of 12 inches of head/depth over the liner.
If leachate is not properly managed, it can accumulate in the landfill which can lead to increased pressure and landfill instability, resulting in leachate seeps (leaks) along the landfill surface or overflows from leachate tanks and ponds. Landfills are required to immediately address leachate issues to prevent leachate from draining or discharging to state waters and to prevent impacts to groundwater.
Elevated temperature landfills (ETLFs) may exhibit reduced leachate quality which makes the leachate more difficult to treat. Over time, this leachate may contain higher levels of several chemicals, including acetone, ammonia, benzene, MEK, phenol, and solids. It may also become more acidic (lower pH).
Leachate with a lower pH means it is more corrosive, which can damage pipes, pumps, and other parts of the system that collect and move the leachate. Higher amounts of solids and other materials can make the leachate thicker and stickier. This can lead to buildup of debris, hard scale, or a tar like material sometimes called “black goo” or “flubber.” These buildups can clog pipes, block gas wells, and cause equipment failures.
If the composition of the leachate changes too much, wastewater treatment plants may refuse to accept it. When a landfill cannot get rid of excess liquids, those fluids build up inside the landfill, which can make ETLF conditions even worse.
Leachate removal at the Shoosmith landfill can vary from 20,000 to 100,000 gallons per day. Leachate is stored in on-site tanks before being pumped into tank trucks and hauled away for off-site treatment and disposal.
Both state and federal air and waste regulations require landfills to collect and control landfill gas. The solid waste regulations focus on the subsurface migration of landfill gas away from the landfill. The air regulations focus on the emissions (to the atmosphere) of methane, non-methane organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and other regulated air pollutants found in landfill gas.
Landfills are required to implement a gas management plan in accordance with the gas control requirements of the solid waste regulations. These regulations require gas monitoring probes to be installed along the perimeter of the landfill and monitored quarterly to ensure methane is not above the lower explosive limit (5%). If methane is detected above regulatory limits, the landfill must implement a gas remediation plan to prevent subsurface migration of methane beyond the facility boundary or into structures. Air regulations also require measurement of a landfill's potential to emit pollutants into the atmosphere. If a landfill's design capacity and generation of non-methane organic compounds exceed certain thresholds, then the landfill must design and install an active landfill gas collection and control system to capture and remove pollutants. An active gas collection and control system is installed, operating, and routinely monitored at the Shoosmith landfill.
Active gas systems typically consist of a series of vertical extraction wells connected to horizontal collection pipes and a vacuum system (see diagram below). The gas is extracted and may then be flared and/or treated and utilized to generate electricity or renewable natural gas as is the case at the Shoosmith landfill.
Some landfills may experience elevated temperature landfill (ETLF) conditions. As the temperature in the landfill increases, the production of gas increases, and the quality of landfill gas decreases — normal landfill gas is composed of more methane than carbon dioxide; however, elevated temperature landfill conditions result in decreased methane and increased carbon dioxide. Increased hydrogen and other constituents may also be present in landfill gas at landfills with elevated temperatures. Decreased gas quality makes it more difficult to flare and/or treat the gas for reuse as an energy source.
Under ETLF conditions, the gas extraction system typically needs to be expanded (more extraction wells installed) to handle the increased gas production. Elevated temperature landfills also generate and accumulate more leachate, which can hold more heat and reduce the ability to remove gas as extraction wells become filled with leachate. The integrity of well construction material, like PVC, can also become compromised as a result of the heat — the PVC can melt. To address this, gas extraction wells and collection system infrastructure often need to be replaced with materials that can withstand higher temperatures, and gas wells may need to be equipped with pumps to remove leachate.
The ultimate solution is to cap the landfill to control the infiltration of rainwater and snowmelt. This reduces leachate and allows for more efficient gas management. As more and more hot leachate is removed, elevated temperatures in the landfill can be reduced. This results in improved gas quality and improved leachate quality – requiring less extensive treatment prior to disposal.
Landfill gas is regulated under state and federal air regulations (9VAC5-40, Articles 43 and 43.1, 40 CFR 60 Subpart XXX (NSPS XXX), and 40 CFR 63 Subpart AAAA (MACT AAAA)), and state solid waste management regulations (9VAC20-81).
For more information on landfill gas, please visit EPA’s Basic Information about Landfill Gas webpage.
Landfills close by installing a final cover or cap over the waste, which typically consists of a multi-layered barrier system designed to seal in the waste, prevent infiltration of rainwater/snowmelt, and control landfill gas. Landfill caps are typically constructed of geosynthetic (plastic) materials, soil (such as clay), or a mixture of materials, at a specified thickness and hydraulic conductivity that limits the ability of liquid and gas to pass through. The type of landfill cap installed is determined by the type of bottom liner. The landfill cap is typically covered with soil and vegetated (usually with grass) to control stormwater run-off and protect the lower layers from erosion and freeze/thaw. The regulatory requirements outline allowable final cover (cap) designs and steps the landfill owner/operator must complete following final cover construction.
Of the 203.5 acres used for waste disposal at the Shoosmith landfill, there are approximately 32.7 acres remaining to be closed. According to a budget projection submitted by the bankruptcy Trustee’s consultant in April 2026, the landfill capping project is estimated to cost approximately $8.3 million. The most recent timeline provided by the bankruptcy trustee’s consultant projects the capping and closure process to begin in September 2026 with completion in November 2026.
Following closure of the landfill, the landfill enters the “post-closure care” period during which the permittee must provide long-term care for the closed landfill to prevent impacts to human health and the environment. The post-closure care period for a sanitary landfill is 30 years or until the owner or operator demonstrates that termination of post-closure care will not result in increased risks to human health or the environment.
During the post-closure care period, the landfill owner/operator must continue to operate leachate and landfill gas systems, perform regular landfill gas and groundwater monitoring, remediate any gas and groundwater impacts, and inspect, maintain and repair the landfill final cover system and stormwater controls as outlined in the post-closure care requirements of the solid waste regulations. Landfill permits include Post-closure Care Plans outlining site-specific post-closure monitoring and maintenance activities.
As part of the Closure Plan and Post-Closure Plan — submitted during the permitting process — the permittee must provide cost estimates for closure and post-closure care based on the closure design for the facility. The costs should represent expected costs at the time when closure would be most expensive and for the work to be completed by a third party.
In 2023, Shoosmith landfill had closure/post-closure cost estimates totaling $19,329,530; however, those estimates were based on the cost of discharging leachate to the Chesterfield County sewer system under a pretreatment permit that the landfill had from the county. As elevated temperature conditions developed at the landfill, the amount of leachate generated increased, and the quality of the leachate started to decrease. Additionally, the landfill operator began discharging partially or untreated leachate to the county sewer system. This resulted in impacts to one of the county's wastewater treatment plants. As a result, Chesterfield County issued an Administrative Order on July 3, 2024, prohibiting leachate discharge to the sanitary sewer. This required DEQ to issue an emergency permit to expand onsite leachate storage at the landfill while the landfill transitioned to pumping and hauling leachate off-site for treatment and disposal — a much more expensive alternative for leachate management.
In December 2024, after a review of the landfill's financial assurance and in consideration of the increased leachate management costs, DEQ requested Shoosmith to provide updated closure and post-closure care cost estimates and increased financial assurance. The landfill never provided update cost estimates or increased financial assurance. They filed chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2025.
A mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) berm (or MSE wall) is a retaining wall/berm constructed in layers with geosynthetic reinforcement, often with a steep or near vertical facing typically consisting of concrete block or vegetation. MSE berms have typically been used in the transportation industry and for private industrial and residential development. Since the late 1980s, MSE berms have been used to allow the vertical expansion of a landfill to increase the landfill’s capacity for waste disposal.
The design of an MSE berm at a landfill must be approved and permitted by DEQ prior to construction. In the absence of regulatory requirements specific to MSE berms, DEQ developed guidance memo LPR-SW-2015-01: Use of Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Berms in Landfill Design to address the permitting specific to siting, design, inspection, closure, and post-closure care.
Landfills are required to provide financial assurance for all berm maintenance activities such as berm repair, annual inspections and annual surveys. In addition, landfills are required to provide financial assurance and/or environmental liability insurance to cover remediation and clean up in the event of a critical berm failure.
Shoosmith landfill’s design includes a MSE berm on the western side of the landfill. The berm (pictured below) is approximately 60 feet high and is required to be inspected annually while the landfill is in operation and throughout the post-closure care period to assess berm movement. The inspections must be certified by a qualified professional engineer, and the most recent inspection was completed in May 2026. The MSE Berm 2026 Annual Inspection report was issued in June 2026.
| DMR | Discharge Monitoring Report |
| ETLF | Elevated Temperature Landfill |
| MACT | Maximum Achievable Control Technology |
| MSW | Municipal Solid Waste |
| VPDES | Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System |
Documents: Permits, Approvals, and Reports
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