Trash Talk: Behind the scenes

by Katrina Johnson
San Juan County Landfill
Let’s talk trash, but behind the scenes of waste management.
Did you know that the San Juan County Landfill has only a 5-member full-time crew? We have one manager, one administrative assistant and three operators to operate the Landfill.
We have one part-time attendant to operate the La Sal Transfer Station. We send an operator twice a week to the Mexican Hat Transfer Station. We exchange 40-yard trash bins from both La Sal and Mexican Hat and bring them to the main Landfill.
We have a few bins that get rented out and currently have some in Monticello, Red Mesa, Mexican Water, and White Mesa…they all get picked up, replaced and transported back to the Landfill to get weighed and dumped.
With our recycling program, all of the recycling bins get hauled to Moab. Some weeks the operators drive several miles around San Juan County.
Here at the Landfill, each day is packed with different tasks. Some things must happen daily. Some tasks are weekly and others monthly. Of course there are tasks that just occur occasionally. There is always something to do or a list that needs to get done. It is a hard job of staying caught up because trash is constantly being brought in.
Trash comes in daily from both commercial and residential customers. Commercial loads get hauled straight to the top of the Landfill. The operators must pull out mattresses, tires and metals when found.
The rest of the waste gets smashed and compacted right on top of the open cell. A big thing they watch for is batteries or anything that can ignite a fire. They take preventive measures, but hot spots can quickly become fire.
Other waste brought in gets separated between the different areas of the Landfill. When items get dumped in wrong places it must get moved by the operators. Your average household waste or kitchen garbage gets unloaded at the bottom of the active cell or into a drop bin.
The other designated areas are tires, appliances, metal, green waste, mattresses, electronics, construction and demolition (C&D), concrete and ash barrels. We have a separate area to collect oil and one for battery collection.
Plus, our 9 separate bins for our source separated recycling. Operators go up and down, back and forth and all over the Landfill every day to keep everything organized, sorted and safe.
Sometimes, items get hauled in and must be immediately buried such as dead animals or waste from the hospitals that require immediate attention to be disposed of properly.
At the end of the day, all waste is required to be covered so trash doesn’t become airborne. Besides being compacted down, daily it gets sprayed with a liquid mixture that adheres to any surface to seal the exposed waste. It creates a hard shell over the top of the trash.
This cover helps with odor suppression, fire prevention, prevents animals and pests from rummaging through active waste piles and weighs down waste from blowing around. Waste comes in, gets sorted, compacted and covered or recycled every day.
Another important task is the maintenance and daily upkeep of machines and trucks. If it gets too windy, the whole crew will have to pick up windblown trash.
They have installed roughly 2500’ of chain link fence and are currently working on another 1000’ fence to help contain the airborne trash. There are many behind the scenes tasks involved to keep the Landfill running smoothly.
We began sorting out items that can be sold back to the public at a lower cost in our reusable goods area. This initiative will help to reduce the impact those items would have had on being buried.
We are constantly trying to improve the efficiency of our waste management through methods to extend the life of the Landfill. As the growth of participation continues to increase, we believe that diverting recyclables out of the waste stream will show to be extremely effective.
Please join in our efforts to safeguard public health, protect our natural resources and help the environment thrive by reducing, reusing and recycling everything you can.