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New tank neededBy Barbara Brown Plans for a new leachate tank at the East Central solid waste site are underway after a 3-2 vote at Mondayís East Central Solid Waste Commission meeting. Commissioner Dennis McNally and commissioner chairman George Larson both voted against a motion to allow an engineering and design company to come up with plans for an above-ground leachate decomposition tank. A leak in the disposal siteís current underground leachate tank was discovered in January. A monitoring device between the wall of the tank and an outer secondary barrier wall alerted workers to a leak. Commission executive director Allen Bonini told the commissioners that it is unknown if the leachate had leaked past the secondary barrier and into the ground. Bonini said no monitoring device is used outside the outer wall. The underground tank, which is 10 years old, needs to be replaced, Bonini told the commissioners. He suggested an above-ground 20,000 gallon tank at an estimated cost of $170,000. While a below-ground tank is about $40,000 less, Bonini told the commissioners another below ground tank would be ìout of sight, out of mind.î He said an above ground tank would be monitored more closely and that employees ran a lesser risk of forgetting about the tank. The vote ordered Bonini to speak with Envirogen, the environmental engineering firm, and order plans and specifications on tanks made of different types of materials. The information is expected to be returned by the commissionís August meeting when it is expected to request bids for construction. The commission is expected to order construction by the end of the summer to have the tank running by winter. ©ECM Post Review |