A massive earth-moving project is reshaping the Lake County Landfill, southeast of Polson. By the end of March, the facility is expected to be fully open, and able to digest the 18,000 tons of garbage that currently goes to Republic Services’ landfill in Missoula.

Along the way, the county hopes to save around $900,000 annually and still pay back the two federal loans, totaling $4.7 million, that allowed it to embark on this gigantic undertaking as well as other significant sanitation upgrades. At the same time, county commissioners expect to keep solid waste fees at $180 a year and keep the county’s six rural disposal sites open.

Anyone driving east on Kerr Dam Road can catch a glimpse of the first phase of the project. The county’s landfill accepted its last load of household waste more than 25 years ago when the county struck a deal with Republic Services to send garbage to Missoula rather than upgrade its existing site.

But thanks to what Commissioner Bill Barron called “a perfect storm in reverse,” the county found a way to bring its garbage home and save money in the process, while dramatically revamping the landfill to meet current environmental regulations.

In what Stacey Kintigh, director of Lake County Solid Waste, has described as akin to creating “a big Ziploc bag,” garbage will be compacted then piled atop triple-lined cells and sprayed with a biodegradable clay substance designed to control odors, prevent fire and discourage birds and rodents.

Neumann Construction has built a new entry to the landfill, with a scale house, as well as the first of three new triple-lined cells. State-of-the-art groundwater monitoring wells “keep a close eye on water or methane leaks,” says Kintigh.

A fenced leachate pond is connected to the cell via an underground pipe and siphons off what Kintigh calls “garbage juice.” The pond is double lined and has leak detection, and is fenced off to prevent wildlife from falling in or puncturing the lining with their hooves.

At a progress meeting with Travis Craig of Great West Engineering and Kevin Neumann of Neumann Construction on Jan. 8, commissioners learned that the scale house was expected to be placed on site this week, and that the new road leading into the site was complete, as is the fee booth.

What was described as a “behemoth” crusher was also poised to predigest garbage before it’s dropped into the cells.

Next on Neumann’s list was rebuilding the tipping room floor at the Transfer Station, where haulers drop their loads prior to garbage being reloaded into trailers and transported to the landfill.

According to Kintigh, the concrete surface “has been worn over the last 20 years to where we’re down to the rebar.” They’re replacing half the floor at a time, so it won’t affect the Transfer Station’s daily operations.

Other improvements include bringing power and communications and installing monitor booths at the six rural sites and adding tractors and “walking floor trailers,” which scoot garbage out the back, to the fleet.

Before the new landfill opens, it must pass inspection by the Department of Environmental Quality, and staff will need to be fully trained before the facility begins accepting municipal sold waste.

Once the gates open, the county’s two licensed garbage haulers, Republic Services and Grizzly Disposal and Recycling, will haul the garbage they collect in Lake County directly to the landfill.

Kintigh emphasized that Lake County residents still need to deposit their garbage at their local rural sites or bring it to the Transfer Station.

“We do not want the public bringing municipal solid waste directly to the landfill,” he said. That policy is part of an effort to curb traffic on Kerr Dam Road and enable the county to better manage the available dumping space so the landfill lasts as long as possible.

    An overview of Lake County's landfill, with the leach pond in the foreground. (Courtesy of Lake County Solid Waste)