County landfill accepts more demolition debris in 2001, partly because of June tornado

Crow Wing County residents generated 35 percent more demolition debris last year compared to 2000.

Doug Morris, county solid waste coordinator, said the increase was because of the tornado that hit southeast Brainerd last June and significant commercial demolition that occurred in the county.

Morris gave the Crow Wing County Board his annual report on solid waste facilities Tuesday. He said the demolition landfill will reach capacity in another year. However, expansion of the landfill is complete, providing room for more demolition debris.

The old, unlined sanitary landfill is used to monitor the groundwater quality, and officials have found there has been a steady decline of volatile organic compound concentration since 1992. Morris said the decline resulted from converting the landfill to an active gas system from a passive system.

The new, lined sanitary landfill manages the leachate. The county did not ship any leachate off the site last year. The county has a recirculation system so it does not have to pay a company to take the leachate. The county saved between $160,000 to $280,000 in the past four years with the recirculation.

Morris said he is beginning to see other benefits of the leachate recirculation. There was an increase in the site's compaction, which gives the landfill more airspace to expand the life of the cell. Cell 2 gained almost two years of disposal, which saves the county $2 million in revenue. Morris said this allows him to postpone Cell 3 construction.

The leachate recirculation also reduced the contaminants in the landfill gas. Metals, including zinc, nickel and iron, in the landfill has decreased since 2000 in the leachate. Arsenic, on the other hand, rose because of chromated copper arsenate treated wood, Morris said. He said this wood represents nearly 80 percent of the market that is being sold in the United States.

The county has constructed Cell 3 and is working with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on how it will monitor the difference between recirculation and non-recirculation phases relative to leachate volume and quality, landfill gas generation and quality and settlement.