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El Sobrante Landfill is a Class 3 regional disposal facility permitted to accept up to 10,000 tons per day, seven days per week. It employs approximately 40 full-time employees. Landfill operations are overseen by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, and the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health.
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Way back when, garbage was taken to the dump at the edge of town. It was far enough from homes that nobody cared much about its ecology, and it seemed like it would last forever. We certainly have learned our lessons since then. The only thing that El Sobrante Landfill has in common with those old dumps is that it takes your trash.
To begin with, the landfill is not simply a large hole. It is a series of carefully constructed cells that function to handle your waste and reduce environmental and health impacts. Cells are designed to limit their exposure and only one cell is constructed at a time for trash. Filled cells are landscaped with native Riversidian Sage vegetation which restores the land to a natural appearance. While some filled landfills become parks, golf courses, or even soccer fields, El Sobrante Landfill is being restored to provide natural habitat for the area’s native species and will be deeded to the California Department of Fish and Game for permanent conservation at the end of landfill activities in the future.
El Sobrante Landfill is currently preparing its phase 9A cell for use, while 24 acres on the western side of the existing landfill are undergoing the closure and restoration process. The site of the new cell is being prepared with multiple liner and protective layers. At the bottom of the layering system, one foot of clay is compacted to reduce permeability. This is covered with a synthetic Geomembrane HDPE liner, equivalent to a two-foot layer of compacted clay. This is the final barrier (of many) to prevent leachate, the liquid byproduct of the trash, from entering the eco-system. Above this is a geosynthetic clay liner. This serves as the base for another Geomembrane HDPE liner. Above these layers in the liner system is a system of perforated pipes layered in a 12-inch bed of gravel, known as the leachate collection system. Leachate is the contaminated liquid that filters through the trash picking up the organic and other contaminates that reside in the trash that we throw away. The leachate collection layer transports the leachate out to pumps that remove it for treatment and disposal. Above the leachate collection layer is the filter geotextile, a felt-like fabric that filters solids out of the leachate to prevent the pipe and gravel system from clogging. Above the geotextile on top of the leachate collection layer is two feet of soil, known as the “operations layer.” The operations layer is in place to protect the underlying filters and liner system from possible damage when trash is first moved into the cell. Trash is placed directly on this layer, but the first four to eight feet of trash are carefully monitored to minimize the potential for bulky or sharp objects to be pushed through the operations layer and damage the Geomembrane liners below.
The trash that is disposed of in the cell will be compacted in layers within a confined area to reduce the overall volume of the waste. The waste is then spread and compacted in 2-feet thick layers using large bulldozers and landfill compactors, which weigh more that 120,000 pounds each. These machines run over the waste a minimum of three times before the next 2-feet layer is placed. By doing this, we can place up to 1,600 pounds of trash into one-cubic yard of space. This is equivalent to filling a typical minivan with more than 8,500 pounds of garbage!
We are very proud of our state-of-the-art landfill system, and love to show it off. If you would like a tour, please contact us. We would be happy to show you what the future of the landfill looks like in Riverside County!
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