Montana § 75-10-207 - Ground Water Monitoring

§ 75-10-207. Ground Water Monitoring

Ground water monitoring. (1) Owners and operators of municipal solid waste landfills and other disposal sites that at any time accepted household waste, that are in operation as of October 1, 1989, and that serve a geographic area with a population of 5,000 or more persons as determined by the most recent census are required to monitor ground water as specified by the department. (2) If the owner or operator of a municipal solid waste landfill or other disposal site specified in subsection (1) can demonstrate to the department that there is no potential for migration of constituents from the site that could cause pollution of ground water during the active life of the site, including the closure period, and during postclosure care, the requirement for ground water monitoring specified in subsection (1) does not apply. The information provided to the department to make this demonstration must be certified by a qualified geologist, hydrogeologist, or geotechnical engineer and must include reliable site-specific data. (3) Based on site-specific information that owners and operators of municipal solid waste landfills and other disposal sites specified in subsection (1) provide to the department, the department shall establish a priority compliance list that identifies those sites where there is the greatest risk that constituents from the sites may cause pollution of ground water, considering: (a) proximity to current and potential drinking water supplies; (b) site hydrologic and geologic characteristics; and (c) age and design of the site. (4) Owners and operators of municipal solid waste landfills and other disposal sites specified in subsection (1) shall submit proposed plans to the department for accomplishing ground water monitoring, consistent with requirements specified by department rules. The plans may be based on the information owners and operators provide to the department as specified in subsection (3). The department may approve the plans as submitted or require modifications to the plans as necessary to accomplish the purposes of this section. (5) All sites included on the priority compliance list authorized by subsection (3) must comply with this section by January 1, 1991. All other sites subject to this section must comply by January 1, 1992.