Despite clean fill, some down on dumps

Jim Guindon knows dirt. And after 35 years as a dirt and materials contractor, Guindon believes he knows when the stuff is no good, like some at the 18-lot Hart’s Place development next to his Post Falls home.

Guindon has photographed truck bumpers and pickup beds, fence material, unused hot-mix asphalt and more being excavated at the corner of Greensferry and Poleline avenues. His pool table is covered with the research he has collected.

He is trying to show the public what people have dumped there illegally for years and to document the replacement of debris with clean fill material, which was ordered by the Post Falls City Council.

Guindon believes the project has gone awry and claims that potentially dangerous and unstable materials are being left in the ground.

Developer Randy Cox, however, says the project is going as planned. Cox says a geotechnical engineer and city staff come to the site daily to check on the work. Tests are conducted to make sure bad dirt is being removed from the site and fresh dirt is being brought in.

“Every time we’re moving a pile from one end to the other, the city has to come out and take a look,” he said.

Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin agrees that dump sites can pose safety and health hazards. Basic issues should be discussed, he said, such as the fact that household garbage and construction debris, such as heavy metals, can be hazardous to ground water or even leach out of the ground and harm people.

Post Falls city engineer Rob Paulus says good fill material is crucial to ensure that homes don’t sink or become unstable, causing foundations and interiors to crack.

Guindon’s battle is not the only case around Post Falls.

A site at Prairie and Idaho avenues, which is not in Post Falls but in an area where the city may grow in the future, is also a concern for the mayor.

“It’s not in the city but it’s over the aquifer,” Larkin said.

An old landfill east of the Highlands Golf Course also is a potential development site that will need study, the mayor said.

“Everybody needs to be aware of these,” he said. “It can dramatically affect a development.”

Cox believes he has a good example of how a development can be affected.

Cox said he had to get a new $200,000 construction loan to cover the additional costs of removing more than half of the fill material at the site. The cost was unplanned, he said, and the price of the future dwellings will likely increase by $10,000 each.

“We wanted to create entry-level homes for people in the area who might not be able to afford one,” Cox said.

“Unfortunately, (the increased cost) is something we’re going to have to pass on to potential buyers.”

As development increases, so does concern about what’s in the ground under proposed home sites.

In most cases, the debris is harmless, said Dean Ehlert, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality solid waste and emergency response program coordinator.

Old concrete and other “inert” material – stuff that won’t decompose and leech into the ground – is fine to leave right where it is, Ehlert said.

Waste such as unused lumber material may need to be removed, as would metal objects, he said.

Guindon said separating the harmless from the harmful may not be that easy.

He believes that some of the Hart’s Place dirt has been so churned up, kind of like mixing a cake, that bad fill will never be able to be removed.

Cox doesn’t fault Guindon or others for being concerned about potential trash in the ground.

“He’s doing what he can to try and protect the neighborhood,” Cox said of Guindon, “and I can’t blame him.”