DOE and county work together to clean Hansville landfill

By TIFFANY ROYAL

Staff Writer

HANSVILLE — Trying to get things cleaned up in a simple hole is a bigger process than one might think.

Since 1994, the Kitsap County Solid Waste division has been attempting to cleanse the remaining waste at the Hansville Landfill site that was closed in 1989.

However, doing this costs money.

On Jan. 26, the Kitsap County Commissioners approved the county’s Solid Waste Division entering into a grant agreement with the Washington State Department of Ecology to attain more state funds that will help clean the site.

The county received $260,700 in Hansville Landfill Remedial Action grant funding that will allow it and the DOE to continue investigating the remaining materials, said the county’s solid waste division manager Gretchen Olsen.

While this project has been going on since the mid-1990s, this is the fourth or fifth grant awarded to help with the clean up efforts at the landfill, she explained.

Such processes are typical for old landfills, Olsen said.

The investigation of the Hansville site includes testing the area’s water and soils and reporting what has been impacted and how it will be cleaned up.

“It’s very thorough,” Olsen said.

This investigation is through the state’s Remedial Action Grants Program, which is a state version of the federal government’s Superfund program. The Model Toxics Contract Act, which was passed by voters in 1988, allowed the state to create the grant program to assist local governments with costs of cleaning up hazardous waste sites.

Prior to landfill requirements implemented by the state, citizens would just dig a hole and put waste in that area, Olsen said. But when landfill requirements were put into place, many of these fills were closed.

The Hansville site was shut down in 1989 but is still used today as a drop-box facility for garbage and waste.

Several million dollars have been spent on the clean up project so far, Olsen said, noting that she aims to have a public meeting soon for residents within the vicinity of the property.

“We’re hoping to have public meetings to let people know what is going on,” Olsen said.By TIFFANY ROYAL

Staff Writer

HANSVILLE — Trying to get things cleaned up in a simple hole is a bigger process than one might think.

Since 1994, the Kitsap County Solid Waste division has been attempting to cleanse the remaining waste at the Hansville Landfill site that was closed in 1989.

However, doing this costs money.

On Jan. 26, the Kitsap County Commissioners approved the county’s Solid Waste Division entering into a grant agreement with the Washington State Department of Ecology to attain more state funds that will help clean the site.

The county received $260,700 in Hansville Landfill Remedial Action grant funding that will allow it and the DOE to continue investigating the remaining materials, said the county’s solid waste division manager Gretchen Olsen.

While this project has been going on since the mid-1990s, this is the fourth or fifth grant awarded to help with the clean up efforts at the landfill, she explained.

Such processes are typical for old landfills, Olsen said.

The investigation of the Hansville site includes testing the area’s water and soils and reporting what has been impacted and how it will be cleaned up.

“It’s very thorough,” Olsen said.

This investigation is through the state’s Remedial Action Grants Program, which is a state version of the federal government’s Superfund program. The Model Toxics Contract Act, which was passed by voters in 1988, allowed the state to create the grant program to assist local governments with costs of cleaning up hazardous waste sites.

Prior to landfill requirements implemented by the state, citizens would just dig a hole and put waste in that area, Olsen said. But when landfill requirements were put into place, many of these fills were closed.

The Hansville site was shut down in 1989 but is still used today as a drop-box facility for garbage and waste.

Several million dollars have been spent on the clean up project so far, Olsen said, noting that she aims to have a public meeting soon for residents within the vicinity of the property.

“We’re hoping to have public meetings to let people know what is going on,” Olsen said.

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