HOMER BALER FACILITY/LANDFILL (HBF)

(907) 235-6678

Open Monday thru Saturday 8:00 am to 5:45 pm & Sunday Noon to 4:00 pm

Closed New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day

Location

The Homer Baler Facility/Landfill is located at 3300 Sterling Highway (Mile 169.3), north of Homer in Sec. 15, T6S, R14W, SM, AK.  The ADEC issued solid waste disposal permit No. SW2A011-13 and that expires on August 6, 2013.

Background

The site was established by the Borough in 1979 as a landfill and converted to a baling/landfill facility in 1983.

The site consists of approximately 90 acres, which includes 15 to 18 acres currently being used for landfill activities.   The baling facility and site operations and maintenance are conducted by qualified, trained Borough employees.

Construction

The borough submitted a request for legislative grant funding in the fiscal year 2011/2012, State of Alaska Capital Budget.  Funding in the amount of $8,998,000 was appropriated for this project on June 29, 2011.

The HBF will no longer bury MSW once the current ADEC permit expires in August 2013. The Borough plans to transfer all MSW to CPL for burial.

The Homer Transfer Station design and development phase design and cost estimate have been completed. Phase 1 construction is planned for winter 2011 and spring 2012 which includes the civil site development work.  Phase 2 construction is planned for summer of 2012 and includes the construction of the transfer building and other finish work on site development.  The Borough plans to obtain an ADEC permit for an inert waste monofill and plans to operate the facility in a similiar manner as the Sterling Transfer Facility.  Final closure of the unlined cell is planned for 2013 – 2014.

Operations

Currently, the HBF receives municipal solid waste (MSW), construction/demolition and landclearing waste, wastewater treatment plant sludges, junk vehicle, recyclables, etc.  The estimated annual tonnage is 8,000 tons.  Operational hours are Monday through Saturday 8:00 A.M. to 5:45 P.M. and Sundays from Noon to 4:00 P.M.

Presently, the landfill serves areas from as far north as Anchor Point and all of the Southern Peninsula.

The public and commercial haulers deposit waste onto the baler tipping floor or into the nearby recycle bins.  Large items including construction/demolition debris, metals, wood and autos are either placed in a stockpile location for reuse by the public, recycled, or buried directly in the landfill.

The waste that is deposited in the building is screened for hazardous wastes and/or materials not allowed for disposal prior to transport via conveyor to a baler pit.  The waste is then compacted into approximately 2.5 x 3.5 x 4.5 foot cubes (bales), which weigh an average of one ton each.  After compaction, the bales are transported to the landfill for stacking and burial.

Monitoring

On January 1, 2009 the HBF landfill was mandated by ADEC to conduct assessment monitoring that includes semi-annual groundwater monitoring in January and July. Prior to this, a reduced level of effort, detection monitoring, was required. Environmental monitoring includes groundwater sampling twice per year from eight wells, which surround the facility, and surface water sampling of Diamond Creek annually.  Waste screening for hazardous waste exclusion is also conducted.

Recycling

The HBF conducted the Borough’s first recycling program.  Collection bins are set up in a large tent across the parking lot from the baler building for convenient public disposal.

The materials collected for recycling include:

#1 PETE plastics (waterbottles, etc.)
#2 HDPE plastics (milk jugs, laundry detergent containers, etc.)
Aluminum cans
Container glass
Corrugated cardboard boxs
Mixed paper – includes office, colored, fax, computer paper, envelopes, paper board, magazines, catalogs and phonebooks
Newspaper
Plastic bags and plastic film
Scrap metal including copper, iron and junk vehicles
Tin

The solid waste baler is used to compact all recyclables, except for the glass, prior to transporting to RockTenn in Anchorage.  A local trucking company provides the Borough with a discounted transport rate which has helped to maintain low costs.
 
Since it is not practical to transport glass great distances for recycling, and because there is a beneficial use locally, the Borough has utilized the glass in the HBF landfill roads.  Glass is an excellent drainage medium in place of gravel, especially since the HBF soils are very silty and gravel must be purchased when needed.

See HBF Recycle Tonnage from 1997 to FY2012.

Rules and Waste Segregation