Pinal Today

The nearly $1 million closure of the Coolidge Landfill is nearing completion, despite having been pushed back to April.

Without the landfill, residents are being asked to take larger trash items to the bulk yard at the Coolidge Wastewater Treatment Plant, according to the city's website. The plant is located on Coolidge Avenue near Kenworthy Road.

The cost to close the landfill initially was estimated at $960,000, but added costs pushed the price to just under $1 million from the city’s budget.

“We did not get any grants, but we have been saving money for this from user fees,” City Manager Rick Miller said to the Coolidge Examiner. “We have about $1 million in the budget to close the landfill.”

The city and the landfill in Florence have contracted with Right Away Disposal (RAD) near Elroy to pick up items of bulk trash from the city. Miller advised residents to check which items are allowed at the bulk yard before taking items there.

Miller said the landfill closure won’t affect residential trash service, which RAD does once a week.

The city decided it would be less expensive to contract out the service. “We saved quite a bit of money by privatizing trash service,” Miller said.

Originally slated for a February closure, the completion of the job was pushed back to April and is being monitored by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The city said the methane levels at the site have remained low, according to the Coolidge Examiner.

Bringing dirt to the site used much of the $1 million budget. The landfill has to be 18 inches at the base of its foundation, and the dirt on top has to be 95 percent compacted. The DEQ has to approve the soil once the work is completed.