Tajiguas Landfill will remain closed for weeks while repairs are made for Alisal Fire-related damage, according to the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department.
Trash, recycling and organic waste are being collected as usual and trucked down to facilities in Ventura County in the meantime.
The wildfire was first reported the afternoon of Oct. 11, and within a few hours of starting, it headed into Tajiguas Canyon on the Gaviota Coast, where the landfill has been operating since the 1960s.
“It came racing down into the canyon and we experienced two active fires in the facility,” said Scott McGolpin, Public Works director for the county.
The Alisal Fire caused a fire in the Materials Recovery Facility’s biofilter, which is adjacent to the building, and another fire in the landfill’s green waste/mulch facility about 300 yards away, he told the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The new $150 million Materials Recovery Facility was built to extend the lifespan of the landfill, and the county held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building in July.
Recyclables and organic waste are separated from trash at the facility, increasing the region’s diversion rate to 85%, according to Public Works.
McGolpin said the MRF’s biofilter was heavily damaged, with the exposed wood chips catching fire and smoldering for days. Crews eventually cut 30-foot holes in exterior and interior walls to get access to the burning material, he said.
The nearby anaerobic digester, which processes organic waste, was “unscathed, thank goodness,” he said. Teams of firefighters camped out overnight, multiple days in a row, next to that equipment.
The fire also damaged the methane landfill gas collection system that includes a network of plastic piping.
“We had six to seven wells that ignited on Monday evening; those fires were put out in the morning,” McGolpin said. “The majority of the PVC piping used to deliver the gas has melted, so we kind of have to reconstruct that facility and I’m happy to say we have contractors on site now.”
McGolpin said the landfill will have to stay closed until that system is fixed.
“We can’t actively open the landfill yet because the methane is not being extracted and it’s starting to build up in the landfill and seep through the ground, and it’s kind of a workplace safety issue at the moment,” he said. “So the sooner we can get that landfill gas system back online, the better it will be, because then we can start actively taking trash.”
During the closure, Santa Barbara County waste that would normally go to Tajiguas is being trucked to Ventura County: Trash is going to Toland Landfill in Santa Paula, recycling is going to Gold Coast in Ventura and green waste is going to Agromin in Oxnard.
“We hope to be able to have the landfill open to receive trash in a month; that depends on getting the landfill gas system fixed which collects all the methane underneath,” said Lael Wageneck of the Public Works Department. “It will take awhile get the MRF running where we can accept recycling and organic waste.”
Replacing the biofilter is estimated to take two to three months, Wageneck said.
Public Works staff estimate fire-related costs around $20 million, including $10 million for replacing the burned biofilter, Wageneck said.
They estimate another $3 million for repairing drainage and landfill gas collection systems, $900,000 to reseed Tajiguas and more money to reseed Baron Ranch.
Public Works says the county loses about $2 million a month for every month the landfill is not receiving trash, and the county will pay $500,000 monthly to send trash and recycling to Ventura County.
The county is looking at federal and state funding, including FEMA grants, to help fund the repairs and closure costs, Wageneck said.
Santa Barbara County Fire Department crews who responded to the landfill and worked on structure protection during the blaze used water from the landfill water system, which holds up to 300,000 gallons.
“While the landfill and previously approved facilities are all designed to current standards, and equipped with indoor and exterior fire suppression equipment and fire hydrants, County Fire and Public Works will reassess the site after the fire to determine if the county should implement additional enhancements to improve safety,” Wageneck said Tuesday.
The Alisal Fire had burned 17,254 acres as of Tuesday and was 93% contained, according to U.S. Forest Service officials. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.