Landfill Services – Waste Management, Inc. (Okeechobee, Florida)

okeechobee landfillOkeechobee Landfill is a 970-acre regional landfill with a waste flow rate of approximately 10,000 tons per day. The landfill is located in Okeechobee County, Florida, and is owned and operated by Okeechobee Landfill, Inc., a subsidiary of Waste Management, Inc. The landfill was originally owned by Okeechobee County and included a 12-acre waste disposal area. As part of the privatization agreement, Chambers Waste Systems became the owner and operator of the facility. As part of an acquisition, USA Waste became the owner and operator of the facility. As part of another acquisition, Waste Management became the owner and operator of the facility. The original waste deposited at the county-owned landfill was entirely excavated and deposited over a newly constructed double composite lining system. Okeechobee Landfill is currently the second largest landfill in the United States with a remaining air space capacity of approximately 200,000,000 yd3. SCS and its principals have provided comprehensive consulting, design, permitting, construction and contractual services at the facility since 1991. General projects performed at the facility since 1997 is presented below:

Geotechnical and Hydrogeologic Investigations. Due diligence activities; permitting of lateral expansion; borrow pit evaluations; installation of piezometers; field and laboratory soil testing; soil quantity calculations; and reporting.

Design and Permitting – Landfill. Permitting of cells, lateral expansions, leachate ponds, modification to cells, modifications to the final cover system, and renewal of the construction/operation permit.

Design and Permitting – Landfill Leachate. Design of leachate lines and leachate recirculation system; permitting use of a mobile reverse osmosis (R/O) system and an expansion to the leachate evaporation capacity.

Design and Permitting – Landfill Gas. Permitting of the gas collection system, an enclosed flare, and a leachate evaporator.

Construction Related Activities. Preparation of construction drawings, bid documents, contractor selection, provision of construction management and construction quality assurance services, and construction certification.

Compliance Monitoring – Water Quality. Semiannual ground water monitoring, including coordination of sampling and laboratory analysis, evaluation of data, and reporting; field investigation; installation of monitoring wells; contamination evaluation.

Compliance Monitoring – Landfill Gas. Surface emissions monitoring, methane migration monitoring; installation of methane gas probes; and review of gas collection, gas disposal and leachate evaporation records.

Annual Reporting – Landfill. Airspace consumption, annual closure and long-term care cost estimates and annual financial model.

Annual Reporting – Landfill Gas. Title V compliance statement, Annual Operating Report (AOR), Title V fee document, NSPS reporting, annual Tier 1 and Tier 2 reports and as-built drawings.

Miscellaneous. Technical assistance; agency interaction; permitting a truck wash facility, yard waste processing operation and disposal of derelict boats and vessels; leachate line jet cleaning; spill prevention, control and countermeasures plan; odor control plans.