Oregon county constructs expansion at Ant Flat Landfill

Officials in Wallowa County, Oregon, have announced the construction of a new cell at the county’s Ant Flat Landfill. The Wallowa County Commissioners met Aug. 28 to discuss the expansion and its costs, which totaled more than $80,000, the Wallowa County Chieftain reports.

The largest portion of those costs—$53,600—is associated with the equipment used.

Kari Carper, administrative assistant for the Wallowa County Department of Public Works, says the county opted to employ Caterpillar 623K Wheel Tractor-Scrapers to construct the new landfill cell as opposed to bulldozers and dump trucks.

“When we needed a new pit in 2020, the road supervisor at the time had extensive experience building roads and freeways, and he suggested renting small … scrapers,” she says. “We were able to cut the time and cost of constructing a new pit in half compared to doing the work with our own equipment. Even these small scrapers can move a lot more soil a lot faster than dozers, and they scrape/load/carry the soil all in one process, rather than having to dig, then load trucks, then dump.” 

Carper says that while the scrapers are not inexpensive, they’ve been a better option for the county, especially because they tie up fewer road crew employees for less time.

“Which is important since summer is when we can do our paving/chip sealing projects, too,” she says.

The Ant Flat Landfill’s current permit was issued in 1986, with additional acreage partitioned off in 1998 to allow for future expansion. The landfill accepts municipal solid waste and nonfriable asbestos, including construction materials and roofing, which must be double-bagged upon disposal.

The county excavated a new cell in 2020; however, this filled quickly after receiving debris from a particularly destructive hailstorm that hit Wallowa County in August 2022.

“The new cell … is nearly twice the size of the last one, so we’re hoping to get 7-10 years out of it before needing to dig another cell,” Carper says. “We estimate that the entire site has room to expand and continue accepting waste at this location for as much as 30 years.”