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Board approves construction of 150,000‑gallon leachate tank at county landfill
Summary
Rockingham County commissioners approved a $581,200 contract plus 10% contingency to construct a 150,000‑gallon glass‑lined leachate storage tank to service the northern cells of the landfill; funding will come from landfill reserve accounts and Wall Recycling will assume financial responsibility when reserves are exhausted.
The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners approved construction of a 150,000‑gallon steel, glass‑lined leachate storage tank at the county landfill and authorized a 10% contingency and limited change‑order authority for the county manager.
"I've got one item tonight for your consideration, and it's for approval of Northern Steel Tanks LLC to construct a 150,000 gallon steel glass lined leachate storage tanks for sales 5,6, and 7 at the landfill," said Ronnie Tate, who presented the project. Tate said the construction cost is $581,200 and requested a 10% contingency of $58,120, bringing the total to $639,320, and asked that "the county manager [be] allowed to approve change orders up to $50,000 without board approval."
Tate told commissioners the funding will come from the landfill's new cell construction reserve fund. "When we transferred the daily operations and management of the site to Wall Recycling, there were still some landfill reserve accounts that the county had, and one of them is new cell construction," he said. "The funding for this leachate tank will come out of the new cell construction reserve fund." Tate added that once those reserve accounts are exhausted, "all financial responsibility goes to Wall Recycling."
Commissioners asked technical and operational questions. Commissioner Barrow asked whether the tank would be elevated or at surface level; Tate said the tank will sit on the surface but be located on an elevated portion of land so that trucks can gravity feed and that it will also have a pump "just to expedite that so you're not sitting there waiting for it to drain out." On storage expectations, Tate said the northern portion of cells 5–7 does not produce large volumes of leachate at all times, and that the leachate pond at the site holds about 1,359,000 gallons. "At peak flow, for the landfill for the cells, your peak flow is about 33,000 gallons a day. Your leachate pond holds 1,359,000 gallons," he said, noting the new tank will capture leachate from the northern side of a rock ridge that prevents easy access to the main leachate lagoon.
Tate described construction details intended to reduce public‑health risk: "This is a glass lined tank... and it's also going to be sitting on a concrete pad in a concrete enclosure that will hold if it were to overflow, it would hold that or have a leak. So it has a containment area around it." Commissioners also confirmed that routine maintenance would be handled by Wall Recycling once the firm assumed daily operations.
Commissioner Richardson moved to approve the contract award with the specified contingency and change‑order authority; Commissioner Hall seconded. The board approved the contract by voice vote.
The contract is with Northern Steel Tanks LLC, and the presentation recorded the construction cost of $581,200, a 10% contingency of $58,120, and an requested change‑order authority up to $50,000 for the county manager.
