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New cell at landfill nearing completion
By MANLEY J. ANDERSON
Special to the OBSERVER
ELLERY — There’s much more than meets the eye in the construction of
a new cell at the Ellery landfill.
From conception, the cell has been subject to almost daily scrutiny
from many directions and levels to ensure that all requirements for its
construction and operation are met.
The Chautauqua County Department of Public Facilities has oversight
responsibility for the landfill. Among the principal county employees involved
in the major undertaking are Kenneth W. Bochmann, deputy director of public
facilities; Pantelis K. Panteli, senior engineer/project designer; and
Jack Skinner, operations manager.
Excavation for the 15-acre cell began in August 1999, but the initial
phase of the project was suspended during the winter months.
Barbella Construction of New Jersey, the major contractor on the project,
had 50 employees on the job at its peak, said Skinner. All but three of
the workers were area residents.
‘‘It was built on a schedule (that was) extended due to weather conditions,’’
Bochmann said. ‘‘They went to seven workdays a week to finish it. It was
a major challenge under the weather conditions.’’
Construction on the new cell is nearing completion and the unit will
be ready and available for use after a myriad of tests have been passed
and operating certification is received from the state Department of Environmental
Conservation.
Bochmann said the cost originally had been estimated at $8 million,
but the total investment is expected to be about $5.8 million or less,
with the cell having a projected use expectancy of about 7 and one-half
years at an acceptance rate of 1,000 tons of garbage daily.
‘‘It’s an improvement over the previous one,’’ Panteli said, explaining,
‘‘We made improvements to the standards. It saves air space and you can
get more into it.’’
An insight into what’s involved in constructing the unit was provided
by Panteli through the use of a display in the landfill office near Towerville.
At the base is an illustration of the groundwater relief system from
which water drains into a creek as clean water after sediment has been
removed.
Next is a two-foot deep layer of highly compacted clay covered by a
high-density polyethylene liner with welded seams and covered by a cushioning
liner.
Third in line up from ground level is a foot-deep stratum of screened
stone to protect a perforated pipe designed for secondary leachate collection
and which in turn is covered by another foot of highly compacted soil.
On top of this is a carpet-like geosynthetic clay liner — the equivalent
of six inches of clay which, if it gets wet, expands to become nearly impermeable.
This is covered by the primary liner, ‘‘where you collect the leachate
from the actual garbage,’’ Panteli said.
Next comes drainage stone of a special mix as a filter layer, followed
by a third collection line and then two more feet of stones, with larger
ones around a pipe and the rest as smaller stones.
‘‘What you have in a big bathtub,’’ Bochmann said.
When the numerous layers up from ground level are completed, the facility,
after the required certification is received, will be ready to accept what
is described in the industry as ‘‘perfect garbage,’’ meaning it’s free
of construction material, couches, television sets, sharp objects, recyclables
and any other objects that might puncture the liner.
After the compacted level of ‘‘perfect garbage’’ is five feet deep,
‘‘Then you can add regular garbage,’’ Bochmann said.
‘‘The cell (itself) is complete,’’ he said. ‘‘Now we’ve got two things
to do. The first is electronic testing for leaks and repair of any that
are found. The second is certification by the DEC, which verifies all drawings
and determines that it was built to standards.’’
Bochmann said all DEC inspectors on the site, as well as county and
private inspectors, have been very cooperative on the project.
‘‘Everything is pre-tested, field tested and tested again,’’ Skinner
said of the continuous effort to ensure the integrity of the cell which
will continue throughout and beyond its use expectancy.
Panteli said the county will pay about $180,000 for laboratory work
and monitoring, which now is done every 90 days.
He and Bochmann explained a special feature of the cell for which specific
DEC approval had to be received. It involves installation of a temporary
storm water relief system to keep surface water from entering the garbage
area as sections of the cell are opened to use.
The innovative system keeps the storm water from mixing with leachate.
If mixing occurred, it would require that the entire mixture be treated
as leachate — a costly procedure.
‘‘It saves a lot of money,’’ Panteli said, explaining that as a new
section of the cell is opened the temporary storm relief system will be
removed.
After the new cell eventually is filled, it will be topped with 4 and
one-half feet of cover material, but monitoring of the site will continue.
Bochmann said that after the required DEC certification is received
for the new cell, a date for its formal dedication will be set.
Although it perhaps doesn’t rank very high on the glamour scale of
county projects, the new cell already has at least three major accomplishments
in its favor — innovative adaptations, on-schedule completion and, perhaps
most importantly to taxpayers, it is being constructed well within budget.
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