Landfill set to open

After years of planning and paperwork, Weston County’s new landfill is scheduled to open in just over a week, officials say.

The community is invited to a grand opening, featuring coffee and cookies, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 16, and the landfill will begin taking trash on Nov. 18, Weston County Solid Waste District board members Bob Hartley and Mike Mills told the News Letter Journal on Nov. 1 during a tour of the site.

The landfill’s hours will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, as noted by a newly posted, state-approved sign that marks the entrance off U.S. Highway 85, which is about 4 miles south of the 4-way stop in Newcastle.

As customers leave the highway and travel down the 1.5-mile road, the landfill site will come into view. Farnsworth Services built the road wide enough for two trucks to safely pass each other at the same time, and it will exclusively be used for landfill purposes, Mills told the News Letter Journal in June. He recommends that people drive no more than 20 miles per hour to avoid kicking up dust. Drivers will drive their vehicle onto the 75-foot scale alongside the scale house/office building that will be to their right when they reach the site.

“You don’t have to worry about it (the scale) being too short,” Mills said.

Green and red traffic lights will lead drivers during the inspection process. Staff will print off a tipping fee ticket for the load, and customers can pay at that time. (Some customers, such as contractors, will have billed accounts.) Then, customers drop off the items at the transfer station before driving back onto the scale and heading back to the highway.

Mills said he wouldn’t be surprised if the landfill has customers who come from as far as 80 miles away to dump their trash.

“It’s not stupidly luxurious, but it’s very practical,” he said.

Loads will be inspected before customers are allowed to bring materials to the transfer station because the landfill can’t legally take hazardous waste. If it does, Mills said the landfill could be closed down.

The landfill will accept used oil, but not antifreeze, and the oil will be stored in a tank inside a leak-proof containment facility that looks like a concrete box, he said. Once the tank is full, it will be pumped off for recycling. Customers can also drop off concrete, which will be made into gravel, according to Mills.

Mills said that, depending on variables such as changes in rules, the community will be able to use the facility for a long time. If someone wants to expand their business or bring in a new business, there’s enough space to take the trash. There is also space to expand recycling measures.

“It’s been put together with a lot of thought about functionality. Nothing major fancy, but it’s going to get the job done. And if I have any pride, that’s where it’s at,” he said.

Remaining work to do includes odds and ends such as installing fire hydrants and fire extinguishers.