Here's a workable solution to restoring a disturbed site and recovering construction materials at the same time.

By Hazel Joanes and Rosalind Risser Yasui

Nestled within the city of Irwindale, CA, are crater-size testimonials to southern California's development. They are the abandoned rock quarries of the San Gabriel Valley once mined for aggregate used to build the monolithic network of freeways, roads, flood-control structures, and sprawling subdivisions that have become analogous with the southern California landscape. Located between the Santa Fe Reservoir and the 605 Freeway (San Gabriel River Freeway) is one such abandoned rock quarry now known as the Nu-Way Live Oak Landfill.

Foundry sand

Greenwaste recovery

This old rock quarry dates back to 1957, when Owl Rock Company mined the site for its rock until 1973. This rock was literally transformed into the "building blocks" that built the great expansion of southern California during the 1960s and '70s. The Owl Rock Company's site remained a vacant pit for 13 years, collecting groundwater and rainwater, attracting locals to fish this newly created urban lake. In 1979, Nu-Way Industries purchased the pit from Owl Rock and obtained liquid-waste permits from the regional water-quality board in 1985 to fill the pit with mining silt from an adjacent active rock quarry. Nu-Way was on its way to reclaiming the land for future development. In the ensuing years, Nu-Way entered into a joint-venture partnership with Sanifill of California Inc., which was subsequently acquired by other waste disposal companies and ultimately by Waste Management Inc. (WMI) in 1998.

Today Nu-Way remains the owner of the land and WMI is the landfill operator and business owner. The site is now known as Nu-Way Live Oak Landfill. The permitted capacity for this site is 14 million yd.3, with 7 million yd.3 of remaining capacity. It is estimated that the remaining life of the landfill is between seven and eight years. On average, the site accepts nearly 4,000 yd.3 of waste per day.

Nu-Way's Wood & Green Waste Recycling Center

In an effort to expedite the recovery of the land, in 1990 Nu-Way received an amendment to its waste discharge permit from the water board to allow landfilling of inert waste. The amendment allowed specific inert materials, which include rocks, concrete, bricks, asphalt, ceramics, sand, noncontaminated soils, and drywall, to be landfilled at the site.

While inert material is not normally regulated by a solid waste facility permit, the designated local enforcement agency for the City of Irwindale determined that, because the facility could potentially accept a significant amount of waste per day, Nu-Way did not qualify for an exemption and was required to obtain a solid waste facilities permit. It is financially advantageous for the landowner of this open pit to have it backfilled quickly so that the land could be reused for future development, but Nu-Way encourages the recycling and reuse of much of the concrete, asphalt, steel, and masonry wastes that enter the facility. Long before the enactment of the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (AB 939), Nu-Way began crushing and recycling concrete and asphalt at a nearby similar site to prolong its landfill life. In fact, Nu-Way sold crushed concrete and asphalt to the sanitation districts of Los Angeles County for use in constructing and maintaining landfill service roads. It did not take long for the county sanitation districts to realize they could copy the Nu-Way model and save money by accepting and crushing asphalt debris at their Puente Hills Landfill. Nevertheless, Nu-Way was well on its way to producing a recycled aggregate product that could be used in lieu of virgin aggregate material from rock quarries.

Today, in addition to landfilling activities, WMI collaborates with Nu-Way to produce a high-quality recycled aggregate product at Nu-Way Live Oak Landfill. Dan Copp Crushing Corporation provides the crushing and material separation services and markets the recycled materials to various construction contractors. Typical end-use customers are contractors for private development companies, the California Department of Transportation, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, and other southern California communities that call for the use of recycled aggregates in their bid specifications.

The adoption of standards for crushed miscellaneous base (otherwise known as Class II base) and processed miscellaneous base for the inclusion in the Greenbook specifications by the Greenbook Committee of Public Works Standards Inc., ensured that recycled aggregate will continue to be in demand for building public infrastructure projects. According to Paul T. Nagengast, public works director and city engineer for the City of Yucaipa, CA, "The ability to specify Greenbook standards for recycled material, such as crushed miscellaneous base for the construction or reconstruction of our roadway networks, trenching backfill material, or other fill material, enables engineers to encourage the use of recycled aggregate in facilities that we are replacing as we rebuild our infrastructure.… It is nice to see that recycled aggregate is readily available to contractors at reasonable prices. As responsible city officials, we must ensure that the natural and human environment can attain a sustainable existence in a cost-effective manner."

As a company, WMI understands the importance of the integrated waste management hierarchy (source reduction, recycling, environmentally safe transformation, and landfilling) and is active in preserving valuable landfill space. In addition to implementing typical residential and commercial recycling programs, WMI offers local jurisdictions an additional opportunity to meet the AB 939 diversion goals by providing a facility that will recover and recycle their construction and demolition wastes. WMI not only offers concrete and asphalt recycling at its Nu-Way Live Oak Landfill, it has also instituted several other material recovery programs as part of its daily operations. Steel rebar is separated from concrete and sold to scrap-metal dealers. Foundry casting is crushed into sand and sold to cement-mix companies.

WMI secured permits to designate a portion of its site as a woodwaste and greenwaste recycling center even though greenwaste is not an inert waste. WMI contracts with California Wood Recycling to chip the green and woody wastes into mulch for use as landscape products.

Concrete and steel rebar recovery

Recently WMI and a private demolition contractor implemented a pilot program to recover red clay bricks. In this pilot program, WMI offered the use of the facility to the demolition contractor for a nominal fee, and the contractor brought its demolition debris to the facility and used its own labor force to separate and stack the bricks on pallets for sale to brick companies and building contractors. This program generated more than 60,000 bricks that were diverted from the wastestream. The pilot program has proven to be successful, and WMI plans to offer this opportunity to other demolition contractors. WMI tracks all construction debris and greenwaste recovered and recycled by each jurisdiction. Jurisdictions can use this information to receive credit toward meeting their AB 939 goals.

During 2001, WMI's goals are to expand its recycling operations at the Nu-Way site and offer technical assistance to cities so they can implement effective construction and demolition waste diversion programs. Cities serviced by this landfill should take advantage of the material recovery program. For more information regarding recycling at this site, contact WMI at 626/960-7551.

Based in Yucaipa, CA, Hazel Joanes provides solid waste and disaster debris management consulting services to public and private clients. An MSW consultant since 1996, Rosalind Risser Yasui conducts onsite business waste-reduction and recycling surveys and implements recycling programs throughout southern California.