Council approves 46% change order to speed construction of new leachate pond at Horn Rapids landfill

The Richland City Council on June 17 approved Resolution 2025-95 authorizing Change Order No. 1 to the Phase 2A site-works contract for the Horn Rapids landfill expansion, adding excavation of a new leachate pond and related fence relocation.

City staff said the change order was driven by detection of a leak in the primary liner of the existing leachate pond and by a Department of Ecology recommendation to test the secondary liner as soon as possible. The work was added to the existing Phase 2A contract with Apollo Inc. to accelerate the pond construction and save about eight weeks compared with rebidding the work, staff said.

The city’s presentation said the excavation already completed at the site totals about 700,000 cubic yards, with roughly 300,000 cubic yards remaining. The proposed new pond will be about 7–9 feet deep and include aeration sprinklers to increase evaporation, staff said. City staff described the change order as a 46% increase over the current Phase 2A contract value and noted a standard 15% markup allowance for field change orders under the contract specifications.

Project consultant representatives told council that the primary…