POLSON — The Lake County landfill will be receiving an upgrade that’s anticipated to bring savings on costs, emissions and safety.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has licensed the project which will expand the landfill by 50 acres on adjoining county property.
The new landfill will have a life expectancy of 29 years, replacing the current landfill, which is expected to reach capacity in 2026.
The update will also allow the landfill to accept household waste, which is currently trucked to Missoula. The expansion will allow the waste to remain in Lake County which will save a lot of miles and money.
“We're spending at...over a million dollars a year annually to ship it down to Missoula and to put it into that landfill. You know, now we're gonna keep that money here, so...it's a good thing overall. And we're able to reinvest that here,” Lake County Solid Waste Director Stacey Kintigh noted.
The expansion project will save more than 86,000 truck miles a year, reducing emissions and traffic. Instead of spending on gas driving to Missoula, the county will put some of the money towards keeping rural transfer stations open.
Construction on the project is expected to start this spring, with the new landfill set to open in the fall of 2025.
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