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Clark County staff outline post-closure roadmap for Circle C landfill; owners out of compliance since 2021
Summary
Clark County Public Health presented an EPA-funded road map and the monitoring steps needed to meet post-closure requirements at the private Circle C landfill, noting owners stopped paying fees and last filed an annual report in 2021; staff flagged data gaps including active gas, leachate and possible PFAS concerns.
Clark County Public Health staff told the Solid Waste Advisory Commission that technical work funded by an EPA Brownfields grant has produced a "road map and a conceptual site model" to guide post-closure work at the private Circle C landfill.
"My name is Nikki Gio, and I'm the program manager in our solid waste enforcement group, Clark County Public Health," Gio said while outlining the site: six parcels totaling just over 70 acres and a history of limited-purpose operations dating back to 1977. She said the facility ceased operations around 1990 and began post-closure monitoring in 1991 under earlier agreements.
Gio told commissioners owners hired engineers in 2015 seeking termination of post-closure obligations; county reviews in 2017 found gaps between the termination request and the county's post-closure criteria. "They stopped paying their fees in 2021, and they submitted their last annual report in 2021," Gio said, adding that county staff treated the lapse as an enforcement matter and issued a notice and order and structured a lien while continuing engagement with the owners.
County staff said the EPA-funded work produced Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments (2023–2024) and follow-on technical assistance that identified redevelopment potential while also documenting remaining monitoring needs. Gio and other staff flagged ongoing landfill-gas production, leachate generation and groundwater data gaps; they also referenced possible PFAS issues identified during the Phase II work and said additional sampling and monitoring will be needed to fully characterize risks and meet termination criteria.
Gio said the road map clarifies steps, timelines and cost considerations for owners and city staff in La Center to evaluate redevelopment options. She also said some owners have expressed interest in selling portions of the property to fund remaining monitoring and remediation work.
The county did not publish the EPA road map on its website because the landfill is privately owned, but Gio said staff can share the PDF deliverable on request. Next steps are filling data gaps through sampling, continuing enforcement for unpaid fees and working with La Center and property owners to align any redevelopment planning with post-closure requirements.
