It didnt take long for Allen County Commissioner Bill King to scold a child during a field trip to the Allen County Landfill for using profanity.
The childs mistake was uttering a dreaded four-letter word. The d-word to be exact. Dump.
We dont use that word around here, King said, with a look of disgust on his face.
King, who served as the Public Works Director for 23 years, is as knowledgeable as they come when it comes to the landfill. He guided the students participating in a summer camp sponsored by Allen Community College from place to place, describing the various processes at the landfill.
Soon the group was on a giant hill overlooking the 160-acre landfill.
This place right here, this is kind of a joke, but it is one of the highest spots in the county. We are currently standing on about 50 feet of trash, but you would never know it because we are required to cover it with a foot of compacted dirt and gravel, King said. The kids looked around in disbelief. This particular spot looked like any ordinary gravel parking lot. King said it was just a matter of time before other areas of the landfill reached levels as high as the hill they were standing on.
Off in the distance was the quarry, where enormous machines were turning large rocks into smaller rocks used for washed-out county roads.
Because of the quarry the landfill has run into a shortage of dirt. However, with the soil remediation project that has been mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency across Iola, the reclaimed soil has a new purpose.
The lead-contaminated soil is being used as cover soil at the landfill.
It is really a blessing in disguise, King said. We charge them to bring it here, so we make money off the dirt, but we are able to turn around and cover trash with it.
King assured everyone there was no risk in the contaminated soil getting into the drinking water. The plant has several wells that surround the property. The EPA routinely visits and tests the water from the wells to make sure no contaminants have seeped into areas outside of the landfill.
Another form of cover is paper. King said when the Rotary Club holds its paper drives every other month, the paper is taken to a place that shreds it and turns it into confetti. The shredded paper is then hauled to the landfill where it is spread over the garbage and then sprayed with a liquid which causes the paper to harden and form a solid cover.
In another area, the group watched as a 40-ton vehicle with huge spiked steel wheels slowly rolled over mounds of trash to compact it.
We receive over 100 tons of trash per day here, King said. We have two more of these 80,000 lb. vehicles on the top of the hill. Businesses will bring in dumpsters and dump those here. This trash is not compacted like the trash that the garbage trucks bring to us. So we have to smash it so it takes up as little space as possible.
While the group watched, a semi dumped a large trailer load of trash into the heap. King and landfill foreman Jeremy Hopkins estimated the trailer contained between 10-12 tons of trash.
