PORT ANGELES — A sewer line may be extended to Rayonier Inc.’s landfill on Mount Pleasant Road next year.
The move would allow leachate from the site to be transported directly to the city’s waste water treatment plant.
The company currently collects the leachate — ground water that seeps to the bottom of the landfill — and transports it in trucks to the waste water treatment facility next to its former pulp mill site in east Port Angeles.
The landfill, located a half mile south of U.S. Highway 101, contains material from Rayonier’s former mill operation.
The company has approached the city about the idea but has not submitted a full application, said Steve Sperr, city deputy engineering director.
If approved by the city, he said the company would design, build and fund the sewer line.
The city would own it once it was completed.
The closest sewer line ends near the intersection of Mount Pleasant Road and Kemp Street, Sperr said.
Rayonier spokeswoman Robin Keegan said in an e-mail the company is “in the design and permitting process” for the proposed project.
Rayonier anticipates it will begin construction in early 2011, if approved, she said.
Costs have not been determined, Keegan said.
She said the sewer line would be “more cost-effective and efficient” than trucking the leachate.
The city charges 3 cents per gallon to receive the leachate at the treatment plant. It would charge 2 cents per gallon to receive it directly through the sewer line.
Sperr said the city would require the sewer line to be big enough to handle additional connections from nearby properties.
The amount of leachate the company transports varies throughout the year, said Jeff Young, the city’s wastewater division superintendent.
It all depends on rainfall, he said.
In January, 710,320 gallons were transported. In June, 510,309 gallons were hauled.
“The more rainfall there is, the more they have to de-water and bring the leachate out,” Young said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
