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Kandiyohi County awards landfill construction contract; leachate treatment program continues on-site
Summary
The county accepted a bid for 2025 landfill cell construction and reported progress operating an on-site leachate treatment system, acknowledging room for improved efficiency while noting the county has not hauled leachate off-site for about 18 months.
Kandiyohi County approved a $1.796 million contract for construction of a municipal solid-waste cell and related landfill works, and Environmental Services Director Gary Geer updated commissioners on the county’s on-site leachate treatment operations.
Contract award: The board approved a low bid of $1,796,473.20 for Phase 8A/8B construction including clay borrow, leachate-collection and treatment infrastructure, a geomembrane liner, and access and erosion-control work. Staff reported the bid came in roughly $122,269 under the engineer’s estimate.
Leachate treatment progress: Geer reported the county’s on-site leachate treatment system — a multi-stage treatment operation originally developed under a multi-year design and pilot effort — has enabled the county to stop hauling leachate off-site for about a year and a half. He said the plant currently treats much of the facility’s liquid but produces a concentrate fraction that is returned to the landfill working face for hauling and reprocessing; the system’s permeate stream (cleaner effluent) and concentrate stream split roughly 50/50 according to staff estimates.
Geer said the county is still working with regulators on permitting and on demonstration project status and hopes to re-permit the facility in the current year. He noted the system treats PFAS and that the county’s on-site operation places it “ahead of the curve” relative to state proposals that may require on-site treatment for other landfills. County staff said boron remains a constituent that has at times approached intervention levels; staff and engineers are discussing site-specific compliance targets with state regulators.
Why it matters: Moving to on-site treatment reduces truck traffic and avoids routine off-site disposal; meeting emerging state water-quality or PFAS standards is crucial to avoid permit violations. The board will remain engaged as the county works toward full permitting and greater treatment efficiency.
Quote: "We are treating all leachate. It's not to the percentages of permeate and concentrate that we were originally kind of hoping for...but we are, I think, ahead of the curve...because we're already operating," Environmental Services Director Gary Geer told the board.
Sources: Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners meeting transcript, April 15, 2025.
