Colorado county extends landfill capacity
The six towns that make up Eagle County, Colo., are strung European-style across the heart of America’s snow country. Their population — now 32,000 — grows 5.25 percent annually, and their tourist population includes 2.2 million skiers as well as sightseers, fishermen, golfers and hunters. Along with the growth and tourism comes an avalanche of waste, and the county is employing compactors to manage the surge at the local landfill.
Built in 1990, the landfill is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and operated by Eagle County. The facility was redesigned in 1996 to comply with Subtitle D regulations, and today it consists of 16 cells scattered over 47 acres. The first of the “new” facility’s cells, which covers four acres and extends 20 feet deep, opened in 1998.
The landfill can accommodate 4.5 million cubic yards of garbage, but, with an average daily waste stream of 350 tons — and growing — the county is concerned that the site will not last the projected 17 years. Intent on maximizing cell life, it began using the Trashmaster 3-90C, a 100,000-ton compactor made by Oklahoma City-based CMI Corp.
Because the compactor increases the density of the waste 10 to 25 percent, the county needs only a fraction of the dirt that it once needed to cover the trash. “We are putting less than half the dirt on our trash,” says Chris Isgrig, landfill supervisor. “The cell is taking in 50 percent more trash because we’re using less dirt, so [the cell] is going to have a longer life.”
In addition to the large compactor, Eagle County owns a smaller model (the 3-70C) by the same company. It purchased both units as part of a four-year buy-back plan. The large unit operates up to nine hours each day, says William Smith, fleet supervisor for the county. When it is serviced, the smaller unit is put into rotation; and, on heavy trash days (e.g., when the site handles 650 tons of waste), both units work together.