Rapid City Council approves $7 million landfill expansion

The Rapid City, South Dakota, City Council recently authorized the Rapid City Landfill to start advertising for bids on a $7 million expansion, a report by the Rapid City Journal says. The project calls for the creation of two additional cells in a 50-acre triangular plot west of the landfill’s recycling center.

Expansion of the 360-acre facility is expected to be complete in August and will be constructed in two phases. The phases include soil removal and installation of a plastic liner and a leachate collection and disposal system. Some powerlines will also need to be relocated.

The report says the landfill current has one operating cell with a year lifespan. The first phase will add 10 years to the landfill’s lifespan once complete and will accept 450 tons of waste per day. The second will add another 10 to 12 years.

The first phase, which will mainly comprise of soil removal, will cost $2.5 million, the report says. After the soil is removed, a plastic liner will be installed at the cost of $1.5 million. Piping and detention ponds will also be installed to store runoff.

The report says $4.7 million of the total $6.8 million cost will come from the Solid Waste Department’s undesignated cash fund, and $2.1 million will come from its collection fund. The landfill ended with a $345,457 surplus in 2016 after it collected $6,708,840.

The request to begin advertising bids passed through city council Jan. 2 and the first consideration and public hearing for the project’s funding source will be heard by the city’s Legal and Finance Committee Jan. 10.