Elk River Landfill Wastewater Project

Overview

Waste Management, Inc., a waste disposal and management company that operates the Elk River Landfill, is undertaking a project, in cooperation with the City of Elk River, to construct a wastewater conveyance system from the Elk River Landfill to the city’s wastewater collection system where it can be treated at the City’s wastewater plant. The landfill is located at the northern city limits, just west of Highway 169.

Current Conditions

The Landfill’s wastewater consists of leachate, which is essentially rain and snow-melt water that has trickled through the landfill waste and is captured at the bottom of the landfill. Impervious membranes on the landfill bottom prevent the leachate from entering groundwater systems. The leachate at the landfill is collected and stored in on-site tanks.  From there it is pumped into tanker trucks and hauled to the Elk River Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it is treated to water quality standards as required by the city’s wastewater treatment permit, regulated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Proposed Improvements

The proposed project construction consists of a new lift (pump) station on the landfill site (Lift Station 2) which will pump leachate through a new dual-lined wastewater pipe to another new lift station constructed at 221^st Avenue (Lift Station 1).  From Lift Station 1, a wastewater forcemain will be constructed under the Great Northern Trail to a manhole on the city’s wastewater collection system, following a route along as shown on the project map.  The wastewater forcemain will be constructed using direction drilling methods to minimize disturbance to the trail.  Lift Station 1 and the wastewater forcemain will be capable of serving future city wastewater needs for existing and future residential developments.

Because of the construction activity occurring on the trail, the trail will be temporarily closed to all pedestrian and bicycle traffic.  The closure will be from County Road (CR) 1 near the Meadowvale Elementary School, to the dead end of the trail at the northern city limit line, approximately 4.75 miles.  Trail closure north of 221^st Avenue is scheduled on May 4 and north of CR 1 on June 8.  As construction activity is completed, the trail will be re-opened from south to north and scheduled to be open to 221^st Avenue by early September, and completely open by October 1.  One of the project features will be a trail-head parking lot, located just north of 221^st Avenue.