Taming the Wild Waste

Teton County’s Trash Taming of the Wild Waste

Overall Project Goals

Part I : New & Improved Weigh Station

  • Anticipated start date: Summer 2015
  • Length of construction project: 4 to 6 months

Community Benefits

  • Shorter lines at the scales
  • Quicker in and out
  • Gained efficiency with two scales
  • Enhanced customer experience

Part 2: A New & Improved Trash Transfer Station

  • Anticipated start date: Spring 2016
  • Length of construction project: 1 to 2 years

Community Benefits

  • Being well-prepared for the future
  • More efficient service
  • Safer environment for all
  • Space for expanded recycling opportunities
  • More waste diversion and less waste hauled 100 miles to the landfill every year

Part 3: Capped & Closed Landfill

  • Anticipated start date: Fall 2017
  • Length of construction project: 2 plus years

Community Benefits

  • Restore groundwater quality
  • Improve areas for expanded waste diversion programs, including yard and food waste composting
  • Opportunity to excavate. identify and remove hazardous materials from the old Horsethief Canyon Landfill

Part 4: A New & Improved Community Compost Facility

  • Anticipated start date: Spring 2020
  • Length Of construction project: 1 year

Community Benefits

  • More compostable materials accepted, including food waste
  • Creation of valuable and nutrient-rich soil amendment for our community
  • More opportunities for waste diversion from the landfill
  • Ability to manage and process more of Jackson Hole's waste locally

Background & Project Summary

Solid waste was accepted for disposal at Teton County's Horsethief Canyon Landfill from the mid-1950’s through 1989. In 1989, due to lack of landfill capacity, the landfill was closed through the application of a soil cap and surface water control channels which was the accepted practice at the time; and a solid waste transfer station and scale house were constructed on the property to manage the County’s solid waste. Starting in 1989, the County’s solid waste was transferred to the Sublette County-Marbleton Landfill for disposal until July 2012, when Teton County began sending waste to a lined landfill in Bonneville County, Idaho.

Over time, it became evident that surface water had infiltrated the buried waste due to the outdated cap and limited storm water controls at the Horsethief Canyon Landfill. This storm water infiltration increased leachate production at the landfill. Leachate is any liquid that, in the course of passing through matter, extracts soluble or suspended solids. When water passes through solid waste, the resulting leachate can contain undesirable, toxic materials that can lead to groundwater contamination.

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