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• The second area is on the west side of the Landfill where an apparently isolated plume of contamination is rapidly approaching the Landfill's property boundary. The Landfill is cooperating with staff to aggressively find a solution to neutralizing this contamination. Existing permit language is adequate to address the issue of contamination, therefore, staff is not recommending any changes. > Safety - Due to the nature of landfill operations, safety is on ongoing issue. For example,the Elk River Landfill recently moved their scale house further back into their property to avoid waiting trucks stacking onto Highway 169. Waste Management has recently suffered a number of fatalities at their facilities throughout the nation. This has prompted Waste Management to develop "New Disposal Area Safety Rules and Procedures". Fairly recently,there was an accident at the Landfill where a large truck with it's box high in the air dumping it's load tipped over on someone. This caused the city to add a section in the Landfill's license and CUP titled, "Small-Load Dumping Site". This section requires separate areas for residents and commercial haulers to unload their garbage. The city's permits also contain language regarding safety equipment at the Landfill and training. • Staff is not recommending that additional language be added to the Landfill's permits at this time, but will consider this again during their next renewal. > Next Renewal - Staff is recommending that this review does not replace the • Landfill's next permit renewal,which is scheduled in May of 2004. Staff's main rationale for this is that the Landfill is required as part of their next renewal to develop an end use plan for their property. The Landfill is prematurely in front of the city due to their need for additional area to accommodate demolition debris disposal. They are not prepared at this time to address the issue of an end use plan. It behooves the city not to rush this process in the hopes of gaining a better product. ➢ Leachate Recirculation Leachate, made up of mainly rainwater, is the contaminated liquid generated by landfills. The Landfill is proposing to collect this leachate in a series of pipes and recirculate it through the refuse. There are a couple of advantages to this process: • Recirculating leachate makes a landfill a bioreactor. Adding liquid speeds up the decomposition of refuse verses the conventional practice of locking it up in a dry tomb. One major concern with landfills is the life expectancy of the liners underneath them,which keep leachate from entering the ground water below. Speeding up the decomposition time of refuse reduces this concern by neutralizing certain contaminates before the liner's usefulness is in question. • Recirculating leachate causes refuse to settle more, allowing for more capacity on the same footprint. This consequently reduces the need for new landfill space. Differential settle at landfills is also a problem. After a landfill is closed you don't want water setting on top of it and potentially creating more leachate. Leachate recirculation helps with getting this settlement over • before a landfill is,closed.