The Bayview Landfill began construction in 1989. This state of the art landfill was the first of it's kind to use a synthetic liner. Made up of three layers consisting of textured geomembrane, geosynthetic clay liner and needle punched geotextile, the liner prevents harmful pollutants from seeping into the soil and ground water. The liner was so successful in protecting the environment, it received national attention from the EPA. In 1993,the EPA established new standards requiring all new landfills to have new liners installed before accepting MSW (
municipal solid waste).
Todays landfills are systematically divided into smaller units called
cells. By isolating small working sections of the facility called
faces, cell structures minimize waste exposure to weather elements and only one cell is opened at a time and covered nightly. Nightly cover helps control odor and litter, as well as vermin problems.
There are over sixteen ground and water testing wells throughout cell #1. The water and soil are tested quarterly upstream and downstream to monitor signs of any leakage through the liner.
With over 630 acres of landfill space, SUVWSD is currently using only 33.8 acres (cell #1) for disposal of waste. Cell #1 has been active since 1990 and is almost to capacity and ready for capping.
Cell #2 is now completed and began accepting waste in February, 2005. This cell differs from cell #1 in that it is 70 feet deeper. This will give us approximately 25 years usage before
cell #2 is full to capacity. Each cell is piped for future methane gas to be used for future heating for shops and offices.
The state of the art wind fence surrounding the landfill is the tallest wind fence in the western United States. It stands over 40 feet tall with a 3 1/2 foot tilted arm at the top to prevent any up drafts of trash from leaving the cell. Each pole is portable and can be moved to a new cell once the old cell is capped. This saves money along with returning the land to it's natural looking state. From 1991 to 2004, the wind fence efficiency rate for litter control has been 94%. The remaining 6% is manually picked up.
Bayview Landfill has recently purchased a GPS System. This will assist in more efficient compaction giving more air space and prolonging the life of each cell as much as 5 years.
