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Board approves sludge reclassification plan to avoid large landfill costs
Summary
Directors approved a proposal to characterize and seek beneficial reuse for accumulated water and wastewater sludges, authorizing Pioneer Engineering to pursue reclassification and reuse planning that the chair said could save rates payers hundreds of thousands of dollars in landfill fees.
The board approved a proposal to have Pioneer Engineering and Environmental perform sludge characterization, reclassification and reuse planning after the chair described large historic sludge accumulations at the INS water and wastewater sites.
The chair explained that drying beds contain roughly 3,000 tons and filter beds up to 7–8,000 tons of material built up over decades, and that landfill tipping for special waste could run on the order of $8 per ton — a near-$880,000 cost if hauled off. He described a brokered reclassification process to demonstrate beneficial reuse (topsoil amendment or similar) and quoted a combined engagement cost of about $19,900 for both water and sanitation work; the water-side component presented to the board was approximately $8,860.
Directors approved the Pioneer PSA and authorized the chair to sign the engagement; the board framed the expenditure as a near-term, relatively small professional fee intended to reduce a far larger long-term hauling and disposal cost and to support future phase-2 construction planning that will include solids-handling improvements.
