An emergency repair project at Spokane's Northside Landfill is underway after the massive property sustained damage during the August wildfires.

The Washington State Department of Commerce’s Public Works Board has awarded the city of Spokane a $1 million loan to help fund emergency repairs at the landfill, which is located about one mile east of the Spokane River at 7202 N. Nine Mile Road.

The Old Trails Fire burned the surface of the 345-acre landfill site, which is covered by a layer of sod and grass, says Trace Bradburn, director of solid waste at the city of Spokane. The entire grass layer was burned away, raising the risk that rain or wind erosion could occur, allowing gasses, such as methane or carbon dioxide, to leak into the environment.

“If that cover erodes, then there's potential for some really bad things to happen as far as polluting the environment with what's underneath it,” he says. “Instead of it going down and through the pipes to the flare, it's going up into the atmosphere, and we don't want that."

A well system located below the trash layer collects emitted gasses as the grass and sod covering presses down, Bradburn explains. The gas is collected at a central flare house, which uses fire to burn off the emissions, helping reduce environmental impacts and safety risks.

Immediately following the fire, the city of Spokane contracted with Hauser, Idaho-based SSEC Apex Inc. to reseed the site using a mix of grass seed, water, mulch, and fertilizer, called hydroseeding, Bradburn says. The $1.3 million contract encompassed reseeding the landfill’s burned surface layer and slopes.

“It’s not your normal lawn seed, so it’ll get into the soil and quickly sprout, and that will create the glue that holds the cover together,” Bradburn says.

Reseeding was recently concluded, he says. 

“We beat (the erosion), and I can’t explain how big of a win that is,” Bradburn says. “That $1.3 million could have easily been a couple million if we were having to replace the actual cover and not just the reseeding — the element that holds it all together.”

Fencing and electrical systems, trees, and some well equipment were also damaged or destroyed by the fire, he adds. The fire also burned around the flare house but didn’t damage it, he adds.

Other than the already-completed reseeding, work to repair fencing, wells, landscaping, and electrical systems is ongoing. Bradburn estimates the cost to repair the infrastructure is $700,000 of the total $2 million repair estimate.

The city is working with fence vendors to repair destroyed fencing. Electrical repairs are expected to be handled by either the city’s information technology team or an outside contractor, Bradburn adds.

An estimated timeline for the repaired site is unavailable and city officials are working on next steps for the project. The immediate threat of cover erosion and pollution has passed, however.

“We’ve got the cover situated, but there's going to be lasting damage to the landfill and to the people that live around the landfill (because of the fire),” says Bradburn. “We still have to figure out if we're going to plant any trees and create a natural barrier. With all the costs that are going on right now with the city, it’s just another thing we're willing to take on.”

The Northside Landfill is primarily used to store waste generated internally by the city of Spokane’s services, he adds.

The landfill was removed from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List of Superfund sites in September 2020, following repairs and cleanup operations to the cover and gas collection well system, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.

The city has operated the site since 1931 and plans to continue landfill operations until all remaining landfill areas are full, according to the department website.

“We have some great people that are working really hard, and not just on this, but in every aspect of what happened in the fires,” says Bradburn. “We’re trying to get the city back to where it was, but it’ll take time.”

Project update

A $3 million apartment building is under consideration in Spokane's Chief Garry Park neighborhood, according to a predevelopment conference application filed with the city of Spokane in September.

Private Investments LLC, of Spokane, owns two lots at 2306 and 2308 E. South Riverton, on the south bank of the Spokane River, less than a mile west of Spokane Community College. The two parcels comprise about a third of an acre, according to the Spokane County Assessor’s Office website. An existing single-family residence and triplex would be demolished to make way for the project, according to preliminary planning information.

Spokane Valley-based Russell C. Page Architects PS designed the site plans. A contractor or engineer aren’t listed on the predevelopment application.

The apartment development will be constructed above below-grade parking. An elevator from the garage to the apartments also is under consideration.

Construction is estimated to start between 2028 and 2030, according to predevelopment information.