Cleaning up: Give input on Marshall Landfill

The Marshall Landfill overlooks Queen Lucas Lake.

In late May, cleanup site manager Huckleberry Palmer led Carmen Nezat’s Eastern Washington University environmental geology class on a field trip to the nearby Marshall Landfill. Although the scene may look picturesque, contamination such as volatile organic compounds, methane, metals, herbicides, and nitrates are below.

Now we’re asking these students – and the public at large – to give us input on cleanup options through August 1. The draft Remedial Investigation Report documents the extent and location of contamination in groundwater and landfill gases at the site. The draft Feasibility Study evaluates cleanup options.

The seven cleanup options range from installing fencing and warning signs to excavating all the waste and moving it to a newer landfill that complies with environmental laws. The Marshall Landfill has no bottom liner. Today’s landfills are required to have double liners with a space between to collect leaks.

The landfill stopped accepting waste in 1990, but the owners didn’t complete all the steps to safely close it. Ecology is now leading and funding cleanup.

After the comment period, we’ll respond to the comments we receive. Then, we will write a draft cleanup action plan that selects one, or a combination, of the cleanup options from the Feasibility Study. The draft plan will be available for public review and comment before becoming final.

If you have questions, please contact Huckleberry at 509-329-3433 or huckleberry.palmer@ecy.wa.gov.