A county-level agency ordered Clover Flat Landfill last week to take corrective measures after the latest in a string of fires at the Upvalley facility.
In a Notice of Violation issued Aug. 8, the Napa County Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) that oversees the landfill south of Calistoga ordered the facility to stop processing green waste until it hires a full-time site operations manager, provides adequate water for fire suppression, and takes other steps to minimize the risk of fire.
According to Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann, there have been 13 fires at the landfill since July 2013, the most significant occurring on Sept. 1, 2017, and Aug. 6, 2018.
Last week’s fire, the third this summer, burned a significant portion of the landfill, and firefighters were “very fortunate” to be able to prevent it from spreading outside the landfill, Biermann told the Upper Valley Waste Management Agency (UVA) on Monday at a meeting in Yountville.