Pima County is planning a reclamation project for the old Ina Road landfill that will be used to help power a drying facility for composted waste.
The landfill, which closed after reaching capacity in 2010, will be covered with soil, revegetated and eventually host solar panels for a wastewater project.
Located on the east bank of the Santa Cruz River south of West Ina Road near Interstate 10, the landfill sits next to the Tres Rios Water Reclamation Facility, which creates composted waste from recycled sewage called biosolids. Those biosolids are commonly used as fertilizer.
“The landfill reached its capacity and is no longer in use,” Nancy Cole, the director of Pima County Capital Program Office said in a news release. “Because of the limited potential uses of decommissioned landfills, we wanted to work with other county departments to find a creative reuse for the area.”
The county plans to use the landfill to help dry the biosolids from the wastewater treatment facility. The current biosolid process leaves a product that’s about 80% water, which limits its ability to serve as a fertilizer, according to the county.
The drying process will reduce the biosolids’ water content to about 20%, making it easier to haul to farms. According to Jeff Prevatt, deputy director of the Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department, it costs about $2 million a year to haul the material, and the drying process will save the county fuel costs.
The wastewater department plans to dry the biosolids at its facility using energy produced by the solar arrays installed on part of the old landfill.
Also, once the landfill is filled in, about 24 inches of material from a nearby CalPortland manufacturing facility will be added to the top to create a “firm cap” that will “prevent erosion and water infiltration” and eventually promote plant growth, according to the news release.
The county plans to install a ramp on the Chuck Huckelberry Loop to allow construction equipment to cross the confluence of the Cañada del Oro Wash and the Santa Cruz River. Construction is expected to last through November.
