Dive Brief:
- The Frank R Bowerman landfill in Irvine, CA is experiencing multiple issues prompted by landslides and the expense incurred to remove the debris.
- Three landslides on the site have caused the county more than $42.6 million to address so far -- and there’s still more work to be done.
- The county anticipates the landfill will be in operations until around 2053. The site is part of a plan to help the city emerge from a 1994 bankruptcy, so Irving is counting on the landfill to remain open to accept waste.
Dive Insight:
The landslides began in 2002, with the city opting to pay to remove the debris instead of leaving the materials where they were. That would have saved immediate costs, but would have shaved an estimated 40 years of life from the site. 2008 brought with it another landslide, six years into beginning to remove waste from the first slide. It was then that smoke started making its way from beneath the site.
Jeff Southern, the deputy director of the landfill, said the area is unstable and that nature is prompting the landslides and smoke.
In March 2013, a landfill in Pennsylvania experienced the first landslide in the state when 10 acres of waste barreled down the Chrin Brothers landfill in Williams Township, PA. In July, an expert retained by the landfill owners reported that the events leading to the landslide could be traced back to a 2011 earthquake that was centered in Virginia.
The balance remaining from the bonds issued is $82 million, with three area landfills generating $17 million annually in net revenue. The amount spent on removing landslide debris is $42.6 million, but the county plans to keep cleaning up the debris in order to keep the landfill open.