Wallowa County officials have approved the construction of a new cell at the Ant Flat Landfill, ensuring the site can continue to serve local waste management needs for years to come. The expansion project, discussed by the Wallowa County Commissioners on August 28, carries a price tag of more than $80,000, according to the Wallowa County Chieftain.
The single largest expense—$53,600—is tied to the equipment being used for the work. Instead of relying on bulldozers and dump trucks, the county selected Caterpillar 623K Wheel Tractor-Scrapers to build the landfill’s new cell.
Kari Carper, administrative assistant for the Wallowa County Department of Public Works, explained the decision by pointing to both cost savings and efficiency.
“When we needed a new pit in 2020, the road supervisor at the time had extensive experience building roads and freeways, and he suggested renting small … scrapers,” Carper said. “We were able to cut the time and cost of constructing a new pit in half compared to doing the work with our own equipment. Even these small scrapers can move a lot more soil a lot faster than dozers, and they scrape/load/carry the soil all in one process, rather than having to dig, then load trucks, then dump.”
Carper noted that while scrapers are not cheap, they have proved to be a practical investment for the county.
“Which is important since summer is when we can do our paving/chip sealing projects, too,” she added, pointing out that the scrapers require fewer road crew employees for shorter periods of time.
The Ant Flat Landfill has been in operation since 1986, with land added in 1998 to allow for future expansion. The facility accepts municipal solid waste along with nonfriable asbestos materials such as roofing and construction debris, provided they are double bagged.
The last cell was excavated in 2020 but quickly filled after Wallowa County was hit by a devastating hailstorm in August 2022, which generated unusually large amounts of debris.
The new landfill cell, however, is designed with a larger capacity in mind.
“The new cell … is nearly twice the size of the last one, so we’re hoping to get 7–10 years out of it before needing to dig another cell,” Carper said. “We estimate that the entire site has room to expand and continue accepting waste at this location for as much as 30 years.”
Officials say the expansion underscores the county’s long-term planning to ensure solid waste management can keep up with growth and unexpected surges in debris caused by severe weather events.
Originally reported by Tess Kazdin, Digital Editor in CD Recycler.
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