Sanitary Landfill: You're The Operator (1973)

this area is certainly changed I don't remember seeing anything as attracted as that entrance a year ago [Music] houses too H who would have expected to see home construction this near a landfill no paper no debris No Mess what a difference a year makes [Music] I don't know what I expected to find up here but for sure nothing like this hi I'm Larry Burell with kwla you're the [Music] operator that's I'm Jack Johnson we're always happy to have visitors to tell our story to what's KW BL angle well frankly Jack the the reason we're doing this story is because a year ago this was a pretty messy area people have very impressed with how you brought it under control I know I sure am I guess the place to start is for you to tell me just what a sanitary landfill is well Larry the official definition is that sanitary landfilling is an engineered method of disposing of solid waste on land by spreading the waste in thin layers compacting it to the smallest practical volume and covering it with soil by the end of each working day in a manner that protects the environment well I guess in plain English what you're really saying is that a sanitary landfill is a safe and efficient way of disposing of Refuge yes a real sanitary land here like this one is one of the best ways to disos of nearly one ton of Refuge from each person over here is the equipment it takes to operate a sanitary landfill I'll show you later how each piece contributes to making this a properly operated landfill but first let's go down to the scale house for an overall look at what we're doing [Applause] [Music] [Music] this is a set of plans prepared by our engineer to guide the construction of our landfill the engineer selected this site after a thorough engineering study to protect against environmental hazards the engineer prepared this site plan to show the original topography finished grades in ditches and culs and location of the cover materials the map also shows our wet weather operation site roads buildings fencing and utilities this other plan shows how we're planning to use a site after filling is completed the grades shown on the plan were set so the completed site can be used as a park all right I'd like you to meet Myers our way Master Mr Myers how are you nice to meet you every load of trash brought in here is weighed and the amount recorded on these forms after calculating the charge for disposal he instructs the driver to follow the signs to The Dumping area it's important for us to know the rate at which available space in our land pill is being used up and to keep track of where our income is coming from the regulatory agency here also requires us to keep certain records on our operation we charge based on the tonnage of trash delivered so we've got to maintain accurate records we can determine from these records where our costs lie in order to minimize expenditure the federal government government has provided us with these forms to help organize our records for this Purpose By the way Jack I've heard that sanitary landfills have a very poor accident record what's your experience in this area actually Larry a sanitary landfill is relatively safe it's the dumps that have the poor safety record our operating practices help eliminate accidents we also have emergency procedures to follow a pickup is always on duty at the fileld and any emergency work can reach me in a matter of few minutes when it does I can get an ambulance here within minutes no first aid yes we have one trained first aider on the job he mainly treats for minor cuts and bruises for anything more serious we call on professional help does the landfill have to be fenced yes because we have to control access the entrance must have a gate so that Vehicles can't get into the fill when it's closed this protects us against the possibility of lawsuits from people who might wander in here and get hurt we have these drop boxes for people who get out here after we close the drop boxes are emptied back at the pill each morning come on let's go back there and I'll show you how we landfill [Music] [Music] [Music] we're standing on a 30ft refu fi that mound over there is yesterday's Refuge covered with Earth it's what we call a sail a sail is simply Refuge surrounded on all sides by Earth and over here is where we're building in one today as you can see we're compacted on a 3 to1 slope we spread the refu from the bottom up keeping the working Pace as small as possible the trucks unload right at the toe of the slope why can't they jump at the top well they could but unloading at the bottom and pushing up gives us better compaction leaves the top free for covering reduces blowing litter and it's easier on the operator and machine how is the equipment affect it well tractors are designed to work more efficiently when moving forward that's the because the rear sockets which do all the work are pulling the bottom of the track when it's tightly held down by the weight of the tractor when in reverse is pulling the loose top part of the track tractor wear is increased whenever it moves in Reverse this wear is increased even more whenever the tractor pushes refu down a slope and then has to go in reverse up the slope how do you get good compaction we get the best compaction when the waste is spread in layers 2 ft thick on a 3 to one slope then run over 3 to five times before adding another layer how do you know when you're working on the right slope the Dozer can climb it with a blade load without overworking if it's too steep we have to go to another gear and the track starts spinning and lose speed it's a matter of feel before that refuse is compacted it looks pretty loose how do you keep it from getting away from you in the wind s I'm glad you asked me that question because it's here that the public loses confidence in a landfill and where most operators fail it's really quite simple first of all we make use of the Wind by working the face of the cell into it this way the wind presses the loose papers against the r surface of the slope we know the direction of the prevailing winds here so we set up Portable fences down window of the working area we use two types these 10 Footers are pulled from spot to spot hog fences are used when we need to cover a relatively large area you've got to make sure the fences are kept clean otherwise they act as a barrier to the wind which then simply moves over them then two we keep the working Pace as small as possible and how do you do that first by being aware that if left uncontrolled the working PA can easily get spread out that's the spotter's responsibility what is spotting spotting is is like traffic directing when trucks are coming in heavy they have to know where to dump we try not to delay the trucks the homeowner with his small trailer can be a problem most don't know how to back up to the fill the spotter can be helpful here and prevent collisions during the SL time he also fills in as our labor cleaning litter fences and even goes outside our property to pick up litter he also runs our water truck is that all the risk to spawning Jack oh no sometimes we get a hot low there is a truck with a fire somewhere in the refu we have to put him off in a separate area where he can dump out of the way then what the Dozer spreads the load right out and we put out the fire with a water tuck we also call the fire department then does the refes go into the fil not until the end of the shift when we're sure the fire's out and won't start again it could spread to the whole face now anything else sometimes they load of bulky stuff comes in quite good tree trunk you name it and what do you do with that we have him dumped to one side of the working face then the Dozer smashes the stuff I walking over and is then work into the bottom of the lift by doing it this way the Dozer won't dig it out the next time he comes along what other problems do you have well we have to operate 52 weeks a year in good weather and bad if we stop for rain or snow or cold weather the entire field would get out of control so what do you do well we have a wet weather site it's over here come on we'll have a look as you can see most of the roads are temporary dirt roads and The Refuge is covered with dirt in wet weather they get muddy so we do two things we fill in an area near our all weather black top roads and surfacy access roads and dumping pad with asphalt burnings clinkers and nearby power plants or perhaps broken up rubble from construction s we also stockpile cover Earth near the wet weather site to cover the Refuge daily and by the way it's a lot easier to do this work during dry weather if you have to be that prepared for wet weather what do you do during cold weather and heavy snows well actually Larry get cold and snow not such a problem you remember last winter I'll never forget it I couldn't get to work for nearly a week our major problem was keeping the RO roads open a lot of time was spent by our operator cleaning snow drifts in the roads and dumping area aside from this operations were not much different from any other time [Applause] cover dirt is stockpiled near the fill prior to cold weather setting in it spread over the rubbish every day as long as snow covers a stockpile cover dirt it doesn't freeze we've had problems in years when we get cold weather prior to the snow the Earth cover froze and we had to rip the Earth Loosely I don't imagine the equipment operators like winter operations actually they're better protected than anyone else out here the machines have heated cabs operator efficiency drops off due to restricted visibility mostly when the wind blows snow seems to me this operation is pretty rough on equipment and you're not wrong there all of our equipment has special accessories to guard against damage and we still have to check them regularly we house our equipment in that building to protect it against vandals and the elements the building is heated so that the operator can perform routine maintenance and minor repairs anytime regardless of the weather we have to keep the machines going to maintain a sanitary landfill preventive maintenance is absolutely necessary I insist that repairs be made immediately before a minor defect becomes a major breakdown which is costly to fix and can extend down time well it looks like we're ready to start covering why is cover necessary well actually it's one of the most important elements of a sanitary landfill by cover all the refu with Earth the side looks neat and the cover keeps the paper from blowing around Earth also helps to prevent fires by sealing off the combustible material within each cell this way if a fire should break out it won't spread to adjacent cells without daily cover the refes with draw rats and insects you want to get it sealed before it gets to rotting and smelling bad rats won't come around or stay around if there's nothing to eat so cover keeps a landfill sanitary the ideal cover is something that can be excavated easily on site spread and compacted evenly and won't be too Slippery When Wet yet contains enough moisture to prevent dusting but you seldom have such ideal conditions we have to rip some of our cover soil and when we use rocky soil we've got to lay down more to get an equivalent cover how do you know how much cover to put on if you can see Refuge through the cover Earth you need more normally it takes about 6 in to cover the cell to hold its shape and to keep the refu in it's sort of up to the operator's judgment just how much it takes to get this amount of cover is something he gets a feel for after a while when a fill is completed that is when it is brought up to finish grade we put on at least 2 ft of final Earth cover the refu is work from the bottom up but it looks like he placed the Earth from the top down why is that well flexibility I suppose you want to keep the stockpile Earth out of the way of the delivery vehicle but close enough to where it's needed we bring it in during the day when Refuge deliveries are slow having the Earth at the top is especially helpful on Windy days because you can cover the refu as needed rather than waiting till the end of the day bear in mind that Earth is heavy compared to refu and it's easier to drift Earth downhill Feathering as you go Jack when we talked over the phone you said you had another site is it like this one no on that side I use a trench mat that it's land pilling there are no available Canyons for filling so I excavate a trench to place the Refuge in and use the excavated material for cover [Music] for the trench method the refu is placed in the trench compacted and then covered with Earth just as in the area method used here [Music] well I guess that covers it for me well before you go I'd like you to meet my equipment operator he's a key man here on our landfill hey dick you have a minute I'd like to introduce you to Larry Burell Larry is out here doing a story on our operation how do you do dick I understand you've been on the job quite some time how do you like it good I know what I have to do every day how it's supposed to be done I take the attitude that it's something constructive something to be proud of some of the operators may think landfill is just a fancy dump me I think it's a good operation and an important one is taking nearly useless land and making something useful out of it when this fill is finished I can bring my family up here for a picnic and let them share a little of the pride that went into making this sanitary landfill one of the best in the country many of the improvements you have seen were the suggestion of dick and the other men out here we make be the operators but I like to think that someday the public will realize the value of sanitary landfilling too thanks very much Deck there's a feeling of constant movement and progress on a sanitary landfill no matter where you look everybody is on the job that Packer has been here twice today we've got to hustle to keep up with the deliveries efforts at resource recovery are helping to reduce the amount but there will always be some material left over for land disposal nobody within sight or sound of this project can be offended by what he sees or hears everybody who works here understands that thanks a lot for the tour of your sanitary landfill Jack and congratulations on the way you've improved it as far as I'm concerned sanitary landfilling is here to stay we're always glad to have visitors we're proud of what we're doing [Music] n [Music] [Applause] la