A $1.9 million project at the Flathead County landfill will permanently close an older portion of the facility and excavate four acres for the next lined cell.

Paid for with Solid Waste District tax revenue, the project should be done in mid- to late-September.

So far, 37,000 of 210,000 cubic yards of soil have been excavated, Landfill Operations Manager Jim Chilton said.

The latest excavation makes way for Phase 4A in the landfill, which will connect to Phase 3 that’s now in operation along with Phase 2.

Phase 4B is set aside for a future cell and is the final phase on the north end of the landfill. When it’s full, expansion will move to the southern reaches of the landfill.

According to the most recent annual report for the landfill, approximately 275 acres have been licensed for waste management activities with the completion of the south area expansion project.

That area offers 18.1 million cubic yards of airspace.

The north area consists of 80 acres and is the current operating area. It has 3.5 million cubic yards of airspace remaining.

Some of the excavated soil from the current project will be used to reclaim 12 to 14 acres in the east and north slope sections, part of the original landfill created in 1972.

The lower base slopes to the east and north already have been reclaimed, Chilton said.

Noble Excavating Inc. of Libby is heading the project.

Once oversized rocks and debris are cleared from the area targeted for reclamation, native clay soils are applied and then compacted to the required density, Chilton explained.

Then two feet of low-permeability soils are applied on top of the subgrade native soil to bring the site up to state Department of Environmental Quality standards for final closure.

Drains and bench roads are installed to help eliminate erosion. The final step is revegetating the area with native grasses.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com