Cowlitz County details costly repairs after plugged leachate line at Headquarters Landfill
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Public Services Director Mike Moss told commissioners a plugged leachate line forced tanker trucking of roughly 1.7 million gallons off the hill and up to 3 million gallons down to Public Works, with ponds near capacity and repair and trucking costs approaching about $500,000; staff plan vaults, valves and cleanouts to reduce future risk.
Cowlitz County Public Services Director Mike Moss told the Board of County Commissioners that crews have made “great progress” in finding and opening a series of plugs in a leachate line that conveys wastewater from the Headquarters Landfill. He said the plugged line required extensive trucking and temporary measures while crews scope and clear remaining blockages.
Moss said crews have run tanker trucks from the leachate ponds to a Public Works vault for about seven days and had transported roughly 1,700,000 gallons off the hill in tankers. "We're gonna run them all at least through Friday depending if we get the lines open or not," he said, and added that "we're running about 3,000,000 gallons down the hill in tanker trucks." Moss reported the first pond is full and the second pond holds about 1,700,000 gallons of a roughly 2,500,000-gallon capacity, leaving only about 800,000 gallons of remaining capacity.
Describing costs as preliminary, Moss said he expected the county's trucking and repair tab to be significant: "I'm guessing we're probably nearing a half $1,000,000 so far in this trucking and repair," he said. The county has called on contractors and mutual aid from nearby agencies — including the City of Longview and Beacon Hill — to scope the line with cameras, locate plugs and perform repairs.
Moss said the immediate priority is restoring flow to the Public Works vault and preventing overflows. Staff are taking short-term operational steps now and planning capital fixes for the dry season: installing additional valves to isolate sections of the line and identifying locations for cleanouts and vaults so that future plugs can be cleared more quickly. "Right now, it's kinda like put it together and get it running, but we know where our low spots at. We'd like to put vaults in there this summer," he said.
Commissioners pressed staff about long-term resilience and asked the department to involve engineering experts when designing the spacing and number of cleanouts. Moss said the county will bring back recommendations after further analysis and expected to show the board a video of flow at the Public Works vault once pumps are restarted.
No formal actions or votes were taken; staff said they would return with cost estimates and a plan for implementing cleanouts and valves during the drier months.