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Scott Area Landfill expands to create a green space come 2075

A $3,200,000 expansion is in the works, which will accumulate over 200 feet of garbage when full.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — A $3,200,000 expansion of the Scott Area Landfill is taking place. It's a project that happens every four to five years at the waste commission.  

From above, it looks like a giant pit in the middle of a desert, but the sand hole is the first step to create a new cell (a 9-acre landfill addition).

"It's a big deal," says Brian Seals, Scott Area Landfill Operations Manager. "It's a big deal to us."

Seals has been at the landfill for 15 years, he says this is only the second cell he's seen constructed during his time.

"Above us will be 230 feet of garbage when it's all said and done," motions Seals from the bottom of the cell.

This will be the eighth cell - out of 15 - constructed at the Scott Area Landfill.  The process starts with two feet of clay.

"We've ran 200 density tests on this clay to make sure that it meets specifications," Seals explains.

50 panels of black liners are then rolled out on top of the clay by a company outsourced from Wisconsin.  Each panel is sealed down and pressed together to ensure no leaks are present - if there is, that seam is patched up if needed.

"When all this is said and done we can say - with a very high certainty from an environmental protection perspective - this liner is in check, it's all in place," says Seals.

In 50 years, the black liner will be the base for a new kind of growth. Come 2075, the Scott Area Landfill plans to close the 15-cell landfill and create their master plan: a green space.

"It will have a multi-use path that you can use to ride your bike on or a walking path," Seals illustrates, showing a map of a circular park that will overlook the Mississippi River.

The first load of garbage will make it's way inside cell 8 at the end of September or beginning of October. 

"The minute we start putting garbage in, we are already pulling out soil that will be all the way down where our next future cell will be in 2025."

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