Another learning opportunity during my three-hour tour of the Ada County Landfill last weekend. Look at this lovely pond. Seagulls and ducks, even ducklings, swimming around. Blue water…from a distance. Get a little closer and you see that it’s murky, muddy and a little fragrant.
Liquid (leachate) from the landfill is pumped into this pond, where it evaporates. There are plans to reuse this water in another way soon.
Ada County Landfill deputy director Theresa Rademacher, on the right, showed us a system that will eventually pump some of the water into older areas of the landfill. The water will help facilitate the natural breakdown of the waste.
Hey, I stood on top of a pile of trash. 300 feet tall, overlooking Boise.
This section is the old Hidden Hollow Landfill. It’s closed, covered with a thick layer of soil and seeded with native grasses and plants. Trash was first dumped here in 1972. It was before environmental standards, so the ravine was not lined and the trash leached toxins into the aquifer that runs right under the area. It’s all been fixed (mostly) since then and is constantly monitored. The pipes you see are part of the gas venting system. More about those gasses in another garbage post.
All waste is now tipped into a new area at the site that is expected to last another 60-70 years before it’s filled.
~Debbie