Denver Regional Landfill in Erie to Close by 2021

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): The last piece of space used mainly for company waste and "special projects" at the Denver Regional Landfill in Erie will shutter its operations by 2021, the town announced Thursday, following a request from state health officials for a clearer closing date as the depot nears its capacity and a promised land deal for a piece of town-owned property.

As part of the agreement, Waste Connections Inc., which owns the Denver Regional site as well as the adjacent Front Range Landfill, will donate $4 million to Erie’s town hall expansion project.

Officials on Thursday said the contracts for the closure were still being finalized, but suggested that the impetus for the company’s compliance to close as well as donate to Erie were inspired by the town’s offer to give the company a piece of property aimed at furthering the other landfill’s future.

"Erie is giving and taking a few things as (part of this agreement)," Mayor Tina Harris said Thursday. She said the town is giving the company nearly 10 acres of town-owned property to help them relocate the "front door" of the adjacent Front Range Landfill onto Weld County Road 7 in the coming years. "That way, we won’t have a lot of garbage trucks driving by the high school and neighborhoods" during future operations, she added — a likely welcome respite for nearby residents.

Front Range, which opened officially in 1996, revved up operations seven years ago when it began to accept all the public garbage that used to go mainly to the Denver Regional Landfill.

The portion of that site that was open to the public  closed in 2011 after nearly 30 years, with nearly 24.5 million cubic yards of garbage spread across 160 acres and stacked up to 250 feet deep.

The site left about 80,000 cubic yards of space to accept waste from "special projects" in the years since.
A letter from state officials last month to Waste Connections requests the depot’s original closure/post-closure plan be amended to dictate the final trash dump to be before 2021.

"The final receipt of waste shall be on or before December 31, 2020," the letter reads.

The operator will have nine months to cap and complete closure of the landfill after that time.
State officials say they would like to see a clearer closure plan so operations can begin to take shape.

"They have been saying they were going to close for a little while because they’ve been running out of life on that capacity," Kelly MacGregor, a spokeswoman for the CDPHE’s Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division, said Thursday.

"But for us, we don’t want a landfill sitting around mostly unused without proper closure controls — if it’s not an active site, we would like some clearer (closure plans) in place."

She added that those considerations are mainly for the environment and out of concern that another  100-year flood could roll in while the site is still active.

Most landfills don’t have specific closure dates, but are rather dictated by how much volume of waste a site can hold.

The total project cost for the Erie Town Hall Expansion Project is roughly $13.7 million and has been referred to voters as Ballot Issue 3A on the April 3 regular municipal election ballot.

Courtesy: https://wasteadvantage.com