About Smiths Creek Landfill

Anatomy of a Landfill
The link above goes to a cut-away diagram of a typical contemporary Landfill. It shows the environmental control systems installed to protect air, surface water and groundwater. The diagram is intended for educational use only. It is not an exact representation of the control systems in place at Smiths Creeks Landfill.

Landfill Exemptions
The Environmental Services Department may exempt certain waste materials from gate fees if needed for landfill operational activities.

What is a landfill?
A solid waste landfill is a public service facility. The first and most important function of a properly run landfill is to provide safe containment for waste. Historically, communities hauled trash to the "dump", buried it in a hole in the ground, covered it up, and forgot about it. In order to protect our environment, today's landfills are subject to federal, state, and various local regulations. Regulations require the Environmental Services Department to control landfill gas, protect ground and surface water from contamination, prevent hazardous waste from entering the landfills, and assure that any hazardous waste that is discovered on site is properly handled, stored, and disposed of at a permitted facility designed to accept hazardous material.

Each day, waste is delivered to the landfill in a variety of hauling vehicles. Once at the landfill, hauling vehicles are directed to designated unloading areas in the licensed disposal area. The waste is dumped from the vehicle and checked for hazardous waste or other unacceptable material. The waste is then pushed into place and compacted by waste compactors. The active face of the waste disposal area is covered each day by an approved cover material (soil, paper pulp, or tarps). Waste is placed in the active face until an approved final elevation is reached. Once the final elevation is reached in the entire licensed disposal area, the landfill is capped and closed. After the landfill closes, landfill gas and groundwater at the landfill continues to be monitored for a minimum of 30 years. During that time, the landfill site can be developed for use as a golf course, park, open space, or other recreational activities.

St. Clair County Active Landfill
Smiths Creek Landfill General Information
Customer Information