ONTARIO COUNTY, N.Y. – The Ontario County administrator spoke about a recent accident at the landfill. About three and a half acres of material slid down the face of the hill.

The Ontario County landfill appears to be busy with trucks circling and employees walking around. You can see how dangerous this could have been, but thankfully no one was injured.

The material that fell, is called landfill cap. It was installed over the summer and meant to be permanent. It limits the amount of precipitation that goes into the landfill, helping to reduce gases and odors from escaping.

Ontario County Administrator Chris Debolt says no one knows what caused the debris to fall. Casella operates the landfill and is responsible for the construction of the seven-acre cap. The county is working with Casella and the department of environmental conservation to investigate.

There’s good news for people who live here, repairs won’t cost taxpayers any money since Casella runs it.

Debolt says they’re working to get as much done as they can before snow falls and he gave us an idea of the damage.

“Three and a half acres of soil, 30 inches deep, is a lot of material when you add all that up. So, there’s a lot of material that’s no longer where it’s supposed to be. Crews were able to move a significant amount of that on Friday before the rain set in. So that was a good thing.

Debolt says there’s no danger of waste coming out of the landfill. I reached out to Casella for comment and am waiting to hear back. Meanwhile, from where I’m standing, I don’t smell anything, but the county will be keeping tabs on this.

We just heard back from the company that operates the landfill. Casella waste systems released a statement that says in part, “There continues to be no impact to the surrounding environment and no personal injuries due to the incident that occurred last Wednesday. The work continues alongside the state and county officials to determine a cause and members of the surrounding community should feel confident that there is no increased risk to public health or the natural environment at this time.”