New landfill expected to be operating by spring

With the first pit to hold trash nearly completed and a contractor selected to build facilities at the site, the new landfill east of Havre is expected to be open by next spring, Hill County Sanitarian Clay Vincent said.

"They are probably two-thirds of the way through moving dirt for the first cell, or hole, the trash will be put in," he said.

He said there have been some delays with the weather, but the crews have been working whenever they have dry enough weather.

The Unified Disposal Board that oversees the operation of the landfill met Wednesday and opened bids on the project to build the metal building, bins in which people can place trash, bins for recyclable materials and a scale to weigh vehicles bringing in trash. The bids are being reviewed by the project engineer, and a contractor is likely to be selected in a week or so, Vincent said.

All four bids were in the neighborhood of $1 million, he added.

Work also is progressing on the road that will connect the landfill to

U. S. Highway 2, although the access from the highway will be done by the M o n t a n a D e p a r t m e n t o f Transportation.

That is part of the project now progressing to upgrade and rebuild a section of the highway east of Havre.

The new site, just east of Havre and south of U.S. Highway 2, was selected due to its geological formation, which will eliminate the need for liners in the cells dug to hold trash.

The Unified Disposal Board, which operates the landfill used by Hill, Blaine and northern Chouteau counties, looked for several years to find a site to replace the landfill created in the 1980s now being used.

That site about 10 miles east of Havre, which was intended to operate for 100 years, has run into difficulties due to more stringent regulations put in place by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in the 1990s.

Under those regulations, once the current section being used is filled, any future sections set up for trash disposal will need to be lined, at a cost in current dollars of about $2 million for each new section.

Barry Damschen, the engineer who studied numerous sites in the area before the new site was selected, said that because of geologic formations under the site, liners will not need to be used there. The state Department of Environmental Qual i ty approved the site last fall.

Damschen said last year that not needing liners would save the users of the landfill about $35 million over the life of the site.

After collecting input on the new site, DEQ did make some modifications to the original plan for the site, including requiring an eight-foot litter fence to be installed along the southern and western sides of the site. That is in addition to a 15- to 20-foot tall fence on the eastern side; use of mobile litter fences and screens; active landfilling activities being restricted to times when the wind is less than 25 mph, and additional limitations on petroleum- contaminated soils being brought to the landfill.

Vincent said the new site also will have a space reserved for Recycle Hi-Line, a group promoting recycling activities in the area. He said once that group finds funding, he expects it will erect a building or some kind of center to use for recycling.

Vincent said the Recycle Hi-Line group has been very helpful in setting up recycling programs, and their work is appreciated.

"That has to be a part of the landfill so we can bring (those items) back into use," Vincent said.