Challenge

The San Bernardino County Department of Public Works Solid Waste Management Division (SWMD) operates 39 Class III landfills. These landfills need to meet stringent regulatory requirements for design, construction, operation, closure, post-closure monitoring, and environmental monitoring of conditions in the saturated and unsaturated zone beneath the waste disposal facilities.

Solutions

SWMD initially contracted with Geo-Logic Associates (GLA) in 1993 to provide quarterly monitoring and reporting for approximately 400 monitoring stations located at 29 of SWMD’s landfills. In addition to sampling groundwater and surface water, Geo-Logic also collects samples of soil-pore gas, landfill gas condensate, leachate, and septic waste. We have produced quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports, depending on the site-specific permit requirements. Our team has routinely re-evaluated SWMD’s groundwater monitoring program at each site throughout the years to reduce redundancies and provide a more cost-effective and technically superior monitoring program.  These program improvements have resulted in reduced monitoring frequencies, and cessation of monitoring requirements at four landfills.

In addition to sampling, GLA has provided a wide range of professional support and non-routine services. We have been responsible for evaluation monitoring programs to identify the lateral and vertical extent of impacts, engineering feasibility studies to evaluate the technical merits and costs of viable mitigation measures, design and implementation of corrective action programs, and maintenance of SWMD’s groundwater systems. Our maintenance responsibilities have included periodic pump repairs, new pump installations, wellhead repairs, and well decommission and replacement activities.

GLA has also provided a range of regulatory support. We have acted as regulatory liaison in support of SWMD’s overall water quality monitoring programs since 1993. GLA has also provided professional support at several smaller disposal sites that do not require groundwater monitoring but where regulatory agency or County coordination is necessary. Further, we have provided SWMD with technical support to resolve a number of litigious, landfill-related issues.

Results

At nearly all landfills where monitoring activities are required, GLA and SWMD have effectively reduced the number of sampling points and analytes monitored, as well as the frequency of monitoring from quarterly to semi-annual, annual, and in one case, once every five years. Our work has also allowed for the elimination of groundwater monitoring at four landfills. These efforts have led to a substantial reduction in total monitoring costs over the years, and SWMD’s annual cost per monitoring point is also significantly lower. System improvements have resulted in SWMD cost savings estimated to be more than $17 million dollars.