The Express-Times (Easton, Penn., July 16) -- Failure of a Williams Township landfill in March 2013, which exposed acres of decades-old trash and closed a road for more than nine months, was the result of an improperly designed geo-synthetic liner system, according to a report from Timothy D. Stark, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Illinois. The failure was triggered by the Aug. 23, 2011, earthquake in central Virginia that could be felt across the Mid-Atlantic region.