‘Beginning of the End’ for Guam Landfill

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the much maligned Ordot Dump on Guam will stop accepting waste and be permanently closed within the next several years.

The agency said in a statement that the landfill has a “long history” of illegal discharges, garbage fires, rats, mosquitoes and other problems. 

“Today marks the beginning of the end for the Ordot Dump,” wrote Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest in a statement. “This source of garbage fires, noxious odors and health risks is finally closing for good.”

A new landfill — mandated by a 2004 federal consent decree between the U.S. and Guam — will open and begin accepting waste on Sept. 1.

Hawaii has seen its share of landfill woes. Check out today’s story about the recently completed final report from a catastrophic near-failure at Waimanalo Gulch in January. 

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