Boise, ID

I did a double take, when I first read my charter slip. They wanted me to take third graders from Garfield Elementary School to the landfill. As that wasn‘t bad enough-come mid-morning, I was to drive to the Waste Water Treatment Plant to have lunch with them! “You got to be kidding me,” I thought!

The Ada County Landfill is about a mile and a quarter up Seaman’s Gulch Road, just northeast of Hill Road. As I pulled my bus into the landfill parking lot, we were met by our tour guide-Ted. He spent a few minutes giving us a general overview on the landfill and its operations.

Detailed Directions

Our first stop was to the top of the general landfill area. A mild rain storm had pushed the pollution out of the valley providing us with a fantastic view of the city as well as the snow covered Owyhee mountains to the South. When I mentioned this to our guide, he replied with a smile: “It’s one of the perks of working up here!”

The kids had questionnaires that they had prepared. We learned that Boise residents dispose of 1,500 tons of garbage per day! Each layer is buried under two feet of dirt and up to a depth of 200-250 feet.

We headed down a slight hill to the wood recycling area. I watched as several men unloaded wood waste into a pile. On the opposite side from them, a large mechanical jaw-looking more like a dinosaur, reached over and grabbed a mouthful of wood, which it deposited into its belly. Belching smoke and water, the monster chewed up it’s lunch then deposited the remaining morsels of wood chips into waiting mounds.

They also recycle such things as tires, refrigerators, freezers, televisions, computers and hazardous waste. TV’s & computer monitors contain approx. 8 lbs. of lead. These are sent to Utah, where the hazardous waste is removed and rest of the parts recycled.

From there, I drove our bus down a steep grade to the west, where I marveled at a massive hole in the ground. Ted said it was the new landfill, constructed to be environmentally safe with a thick plastic liner and gas removal system. Unlike the old landfill of 110 acres, this one would be 300. We were informed that this new landfill was estimated to last between 70-100 years!

I told him it resembled a large dam project. We drove down to the far end, then up a loop road to the opposite side. From both vantage points we could tell how massive the whole thing was. In the midst of it, where two fingers of existing foothills, yet to be removed, plastic liner installed and trash hauled in.

Next stop was the Methane Gas Plant. Here they pump in excess methane from the landfill, then burn it to produce electricity for approx. 2400 homes. Still in it‘s infancy, they burn off more methane then they produce electricity.

At the Hazardous Waste Site, Ted took the kids and I inside. He explained how dangerous the chemicals are in certain products, how they process it, and how safety conscious they have to be to prevent such things as explosions or serious chemical reactions.

In this day and age of Global Warming and living green, it behooves anyone to take this tour and learn what our city and state is doing to conserve, preserve and enhance our lives. As Ted said: “In twenty years or more, these third graders will be the ones responsible for our environment.”

Tour Information