Work at Allen County landfill’s new cell is coming down to the wire. Commissioners Tuesday approved an additional 60-day extension to Halcomb Construction of Nevada, Mo., the general contractor for the project, along with an additional payment of $129,072 to Halcomb for equipment and fuel.
The extension is the project’s third, coming after commissioners approved a 45-day and subsequent 120-day extension. Originally slated for completion in 365 days, construction of the new 10-acre cell is now scheduled to take 590 calendar days.
Halcomb’s Richard Huthsing and Will Rogers, along with Jared Brooks of the engineering firm Schwab Eaton overseeing the project, spoke to commissioners Tuesday morning.
Why the delays? Bad dirt, mostly. While building a two-foot soil liner, engineers discovered the soil didn’t have enough natural clay to meet impermeability requirements. To satisfy specifications, bentonite, an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate clay, was brought in and mixed with the soil. That took time — and money. An additional $470,000, to be exact.
The two-foot liner was completed earlier this month and has passed inspection, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. A geomembrane liner must be placed and covered with 12 inches of rock; drainage pipes to the leachate pod placed; a 750-foot gas cut-off trench dug; a protective cover put down, four evaporators installed, and electrical work still needs to be completed.
A lot to do, and not a lot of time. “You guys are running out of room at your existing cell,” said Brooks. “We’re getting to where time is certainly of the essence to get this project done.”
Mitch Garner, Allen County’s public works director, agreed the situation was getting precarious, telling commissioners the current cell still has space, “but it’s getting tight.” He warned of a potential shut-down by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) if the current cell fills up before the new cell is ready. The last cell at the landfill was completed in 2009.
THE FRUSTRATION in the room was palpable. New landfill cells usually take around 240 days to complete, Garner told the Register. The commission originally granted 365 days for completion to account for weather delays.
Commissioner David Lee expressed his disappointment Tuesday with Brooks, who he said gave inaccurate testing and soil information to Halcomb Construction. Referencing Huthsing and Rogers, Lee said to Brooks, “These guys are getting penalized, and you are getting out of here scot-free.”
“I’m certainly not getting out of here scot-free,” Brooks responded. “We’re not making any money off inspections. We’re not charging mileage on this project. Don’t think I’m going back with a golden report card,” he said.
“Second, on a project of this nature, with soils, you can go out and probe 50 times, and you still don’t know what you’re getting into until the onion is peeled off.”
Commissioners settled on a 60-day extension, despite Halcomb’s request of 90 additional days. The hope, Brooks said, is that in 45 days sufficient progress will be made to warrant substantial completion and reports can be filed with KDHE to allow trash to be dumped there. In the remaining time frame, crews can install the trenches, complete electric work, and tackle any remaining clean-up.
The total cost for the project is now approaching $3 million. Garner noted that the cell’s total price tag, up from an original $2.4 million, is still well below the competing bids commissioners received. “And everyone would have had to use bentonite,” he noted. “That was beyond anyone’s control.”
The new cell is expected to last between 8-10 years, Garner said, a notably shorter span than for previous cells. “We’re just getting a lot more trash than we used to.”
Around a dozen neighboring counties use Allen County’s landfill.
