Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Iowa City moves forward with landfill compost pad expansion, cites EPA grant support
Loading...
Summary
Council approved project documents and bid notice for a compost-facility expansion at the Iowa City landfill to increase capacity and speed processing; engineering staff said construction begins in April with goals to reduce processing time and to expand annual throughput.
The City Council approved plans and directed staff to post notice to bidders for improvements and a two-acre expansion of the compost pad at the landfill, a project engineers said will improve stormwater management, replace failing pavement, add a new stormwater treatment unit, and add a new turner.
Joe Walter, the project engineer, said the current compost pad is about 5 acres and the expansion adds roughly 2 acres. He said the expansion and equipment will allow staff to increase material processing and reduce residence time: the goal is to move from current processing times (a year or more) to roughly 3–4 months and to grow annual throughput from about 15,000 tons toward higher targets over a multi-year rollout.
Walter discussed funding and schedule: he reported an estimated project cost and said support would include an EPA SWIFR (solid-waste infrastructure for recycling) grant and a DNR grant to help with equipment costs; he said construction is planned to start in April and be complete in August. Council members praised staff for securing grant funding and approved the project by unanimous vote.
Council and staff discussed outreach to grocery stores, restaurants, and haulers to increase organics inputs, and the engineer said the project will include public outreach tied to the grant. The city described the expansion as consistent with its climate action and strategic plans.
