Landfill equipment operators work as a team. The yellow bulldozer pushes material while the blue compactor crushes. PHOTO COURTESY OF BUTTE COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS
With rising demand, Neal Road landfill squeezes in more Constantly under construction, this Butte County facility makes the most of its limited space
B
BY DEBBIE ARRINGTON
area we recycle mattresses, electronic waste, utte County’s longest-running tires, scrap metal, carpet, cardboard, and construction site changes daily, as mixed beverage containers. At the disposal it has for more than half a century. Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility is in a area, we scrape and reuse as much gravel as possible to conserve resources. We’re constant state of transformation. continuously road building.” “Landfill customers are amazed,” More than 7.2 million tons of waste have says Eric Miller, Manager of the Waste been buried at Neal Road landfill since it Management Division for Butte County opened in 1970, the final resting place Public Works. “If they hadn’t been for consumer goods that are here for a few months, they either unwanted or have see that the internal roads reached their product have all moved.” life. About 200,000 To make room tons more arrives for more waste, each year. The the landfill’s challenge: Where 24-person crew to put it? keeps reshaping “How do the contours of we best develop the site. Earththis site?” movers push Miller says. and compact the “It’s a long-term waste to make challenge for us space for more ERIC MILLER and other landfills, material heaped Manager, Waste Management Division, Butte County Public to maximize site on top. The facility’s Works life, while maintaining highest elevation is about environmental compliance.” 480 feet above sea level – more The Neal Road facility is than three times the height of Whitney permitted for 140 acres of solid waste and Hall at California State University, Chico. is regulated by State Air, Water, and Waste “Our fill sequencing is very strategic,” says agencies. Recent changes in environmental Miller. “We’re always changing roads as we fill laws related to waste diversion (CalRecycle), up each module. We plan our moves six months SB1383 mandates cities and counties in advance. … It’s all carefully engineered.” throughout California to divert organic wastes And in the landfill business, little goes from landfill disposal. Organic wastes (such to waste, he adds. “In our drop-off recycling
“It amazes me how quickly this place is filling. Butte County’s population has decreased since 2010, but our per capita waste disposal is up.”
as food scraps and yard waste) make up 34% of all solid waste. By converting such waste into biofuel or compost, it can in turn add many years to a landfill’s site life. Another major driving force of SB1383 is that diverting organic materials can help reduce green-house gas emissions. To conserve precious air space, landfill material is compacted as much as possible, explains Craig Cissell, Deputy Director of Butte County’s Waste and Recycling Division. With their drivers sitting 12 feet above the trash, giant blue compactors roll back and forth over layers of freshly delivered material. Humongous spiked wheels act like a blender and break up the trash while also crushing it, resulting in maximum compaction. So does their weight: 84,000 pounds. A 40-ton bulldozer pushes waste into place. The site buzzes with the roar of their engines 10 hours a day, 360 days a year. These machines aren’t cheap; they cost nearly $1 million each. “We use 6,000 gallons of diesel a month,” Miller adds. “It’s been a challenge with the recent price of fuel.” Waste material is sandwiched with
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
protection. Multiple layers of state-of-theart plastic liners blanket the bottom of each module to prevent leakage. “It has to last forever,” Miller says. Every night, crews cover the waste with either plastic tarps, soil or wood chips. “We don’t want birds or other vectors to scavenge,” explains Cissell. “And we don’t want rain water to come directly in contact with waste.” The next morning, the construction project picks up where it left off – trying to recycle as much as possible while squeezing in more trash. “It amazes me how quickly this place is filling,” Miller says. “Butte County’s population has decreased since 2010, but our per capita waste disposal is up.”
Learn more at www.buttecounty.net/ publicworks.