Approved Covenants To Help Protect Landfill Cap

Thu., March 30, 2000

By Lorie Hutson lorieh@spokesman.com (509) 459-5446

County commissioners this week approved a list of covenants to help protect the cap at the old Greenacres landfill.

The county adopted restrictions on well drilling and digging to prevent any damage to the landfill cap, said Bill Wedlake, Spokane County hydrologist.

The county spent more than $4 million last year to prevent rain and snow from leaching chemicals from the site into the aquifer.

The former Greenacres Landfill, located south of Interstate 90 near the Liberty Lake exit, was used for dumping from the late 1940s until 1972.

In 1978, groundwater testing found contamination of a nearby residential well. That prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to name the landfill a federal Superfund site in 1984.

Spokane County was its most recent operator, and therefore, responsible for cleanup.

The covenants also give the Washington state Department of Ecology access to the land to monitor the cleanup and require the county to notify anyone leasing the property of the restrictions.

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