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Site Summary — The Lockwood Regional Landfill is a compacted cell, "area fill" MSWLF [Municipal Solid Waste Landfill] covering approximately 350 acres with a waste volume of sixty four million eight hundred thousand (64.8 million cubic yards). Refuse Inc. is the operator of the Class I Municipal Solid Waste Site (MSW). The Landfill has been operating under a Special Use Permit (SUP) as a MSWLF by the Storey County Board of Commissioners since 1969. Refuse, Inc. assumed Landfill operations in 1979 under a lease arrangement with the landowner.

The disposal area is constructed without a liner or leachate collection system however groundwater monitoring and methane monitoring are conducted. Upon reaching capacity, a final cover will be constructed, and the Permittee will be responsible for 30 years of post-closure care. The Landfill accepts waste predominantly from the local community and adjacent counties. Historically, no engineered Landfill base liner or leachate collection system has been incorporated into Landfill development.

The Landfill has been operating under a Special Use Permit (SUP) as a MSWLF by the Storey County Board of Commissioners since 1969. Refuse, Inc. assumed Landfill operations in 1979 under a lease arrangement with the landowner.

Site Location and Description [Geographic Setting] — The Lockwood Regional Landfill is a MSWLF located within Storey County approximately 10 miles east of Reno, Nevada and approximately 1.5 miles southeast of Lockwood, Nevada.


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    Agency Contact Information
    Regulatory Contact
    Permitting Engineer
    Nevada Division of Environmental Protection
    Bureau of Waste Management
    Solid Waste Facilities Branch
    901 S. Stewart St., Suite 4001
    Carson City, NV 89701-5249
    (775) 687 4670


    Facility Contact Information District Manager
    Lockwood Regional Landfill
    2401 Canyon Way
    Sparks, Nevada 89434
    (775) 342-0401, ext. 200

The Site is positioned in a mountainous area within the northern limits of the Virginia Range and approximately one (1) mile due south of the Truckee River. Currently, the Site "Property", incorporates approximately 1,535 acres of open land adjacent to the east side of Lagomarsino Canyon and Long Valley Creek. The landfill footprint is within approximately 555 acres within the northwestern corner of the Site Property.

Hydrographic Setting — Long Valley Creek, located approximately 700 feet west of the Landfill, drains northwest through Lagomarsino Canyon and outlets to the Truckee River at the community of Lockwood, approximately two (2) miles downstream. Long Valley Creek is an intermittent, spring-fed creek where surface stream water emerges and re-emerges within the creek channel throughout its reach.

The existing Landfill and proposed development areas are beyond the 100-year flood plain as designated for Long Valley Creek by FEMA (1993). No "wetlands", as designated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are present within the limits of the Landfill Disposal Area.

Climate — The Lockwood Regional Landfill is located in a high desert region within the rainshadow of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The combination of the Site's location and elevation influence its moderate, arid climate. Precipitation at the Site is sparse with average annual accumulations on the order of eight (8) inches per year.

Geologic Setting — The Lockwood Regional Landfill is sited within stable sedimentary and altered volcanic bedrock materials, with limited deposits of surficial alluvium and colluvium present within canyon drainages and side-slopes. Presently, the bulk of the Landfill operation is located within rippable, clay-rich sedimentary units which exhibit desirable engineering properties when placed and compacted as intermediate daily cover over waste materials.

Hydrogeologic Setting — Two separate groundwater aquifer systems are present at the Site. These systems consist of a shallow, unconfined, perched alluvial aquifer system restricted to Long Valley Creek, approximately 700 feet west of the existing (pre-8 October 1993) Landfill and proposed Landfill expansion, and a deep, regional aquifer system confined within altered volcanic rock and associated sedimentary rock units below the Site .

The two systems are not considered to be connected hydraulically, based on well logs and aquifer pumping tests . To date, eight (8) monitoring wells have been established within the deep, regional aquifer throughout the Site. The gradient of the piezometric surface of the regional, confined aquifer is inferred to be inclined to the north-northwest based on regional well data.

The depth of the confined, regional aquifer beneath the base of the existing Landfill footprint and future Landfill development ranges from approximately 100 to 500 feet. Vadose (unsaturated) zone bedrock units, projected beneath the Landfill footprint from exposures at the Landfill perimeter, exhibit relatively uniform low in-place hydraulic conductivity, ranging between 7.8 x 10-7 cm/sec (ashfall tuff) to 3.5 x 10-5 cm/sec (sandstone).

Waste Generation — The majority of wastes currently received at the Lockwood Regional Landfill originates in Washoe County, including the cities of Reno and Sparks. In addition, wastes are received from outlying communities, including the South Lake Tahoe area, Douglas County, Lyon County and from adjacent California communities. The average quantity of wastes presently received at the Landfill is on the order of 2,200 tons per working day (tpd).

' LANDFILL DESIGN: Design Rationale — The design rationale used in the development of the final Landfill bench plan seeks to incorporate design constraints offered by Refuse, Inc., the physical and economic constraints of the Site, and the regulatory constraints adopted by the State of Nevada. In addition, the design concept seeks to simplify constructability of the Landfill by developing final grades from a single, baseline grade control system which is currently in operation for construction of individual lifts and benches (cells). The Landfill bench design effort included a review of existing foundation, bench construction, slope stability, access roadways, landfill cover, settlement, final refuse storage capacities, and cover soil requirements.

Landfill Capacity — The final bench design yields an overall refuse storage volume for proposed Landfill development of approximately 64.8 million compacted cubic yards (43.7 million compacted tons), with the final, proposed Landfill design covering approximately 322 acres.

Landfill Cover Design — Presently, on-site borrow sources are utilized for daily and intermediate soil cover for the Landfill. Daily cover consists of approximately six (6) inches of soil material placed over the working face of an active refuse lift. Intermediate cover over constructed refuse lifts consist of approximately 18 inches of compacted native soil materials.

A total final cover section for the Landfill consisting of a minimum 2.5 feet (30 inches) of compacted soil placed over the outermost intermediate cover layer is recommended. The recommended final cover section (from top to bottom) consists of the following:

  • 24 inches of compacted, vegetative soil cover for erosion and frost protection.

Landfill Surface Water Management — Surface Water Management will be accomplished by implementing three measures to reduce the amount of moisture available for leachate formation:

  • Storm water run-on will be diverted around the Landfill by the construction of diversion channels.
  • The surface of the Landfill will be sloped for drainage. State of Nevada regulations stipulate that the top slope of the Landfill "must have a grade of not less than three (3) percent".
  • Provide and maintain positive drainage of storm waters off of the Landfill and direct run-off waters to evaporation ponds at the western margin of the Landfill.

Landfill Leachate and Gas Control — Vadose zone monitoring systems are to be provided to monitor potential leachate migration out of the Landfill. Monitoring systems are to consist of an array of suction Iysimeters installed within boreholes near the contact between unconsolidated soils and bedrock located at the foot of Landfill canyon slopes at the western Landfill margin (near entrance road and at the mouth of Dean's Canyon). Sampling of soil moisture within the vadose zone by way of the pressure-vacuum Iysimeter systems are incorporated into the ongoing groundwater sampling/monitoring program at the landfill.

Closure and Post Closure Maintenance — Landfill closure and post closure requirements issues are incorporated in the Closure and Post-Closure Maintenance Plan for the Site.

Site Photos

                       

Modification Summary: Refuse Inc. (Waste Management) has submitted a modification to the current permit SW214R01 to increase the capacity of the Lockwood Regional Landfill (Landfill or Site. The volume increases both vertically within the currently permitted Disposal Area and the Disposal Area to the east and south of the currently permitted area. The Landfill currently operates under NDEP/BWM permit SW214R01 and a Special Use Permit (SUP) issued by Storey County. The SUP covers lands currently used for Landfill operations and the area included in the proposed modification. The capacity of the Landfill is proposed to be increased from 64.8 million cubic yards (CY) to 302.5 million CY. The Disposal Area is proposed to be increased from 350 acres to 856.5 acres. The lateral expansion proposed in areas south and east of the currently permitted Disposal Area will incorporate a high density polyethylene (HDPE) liner system with a leachate collection and recovery system (LCRS). The proposed liner system consists of an 80-mil to 60-mil thick HDPE geomembrane installed on a prepared subgrade surface. The LCRS system consist of a network of perforated pipes enclosed within a free draining aggregate placed in strategic locations to address buildup of hydraulic head on the HDPE liner.

Site History The Lockwood Regional Landfill is a MSWLF that presently has a permitted Disposal Area in a portion of a 2,673.49 acre parcel. Based on the April 2010 aerial survey the Landfill contained a waste volume of approximately 32.8 million cubic yards, of which approximately nine (9) million cubic yards were in place prior to 1994. Refuse, Inc. assumed Landfill operations in 1979 under a lease arrangement with the landowner, Storey County Properties, and operated through 1990 in accordance with a conceptual design plan prepared by EMCON Associates. Refuse, Inc. purchased the Landfill in 1990 and operated it under the Amended Special Use Permit issued by the Storey County Board of Commissioners from July 23, 1990 until it was amended in 2009. On January 20, 2009 a Second Amended Special Use Permit (SASUP) was issued to incorporate an area to the north of the existing Landfill. The Landfill currently operates under this SASUP (Storey County Board of Commissioners, 2009). The average daily volume of waste received at the Landfill, based on a five (5) day work week (260 working days per year) is approximately 5,000 tons. The estimated waste volume incorporates Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) as well as construction and demolition debris. The Lockwood Regional Landfill also accepts certain approved Special Wastes as detailed in the Site's Operating Plan.

Resource Documents

Permitted Solid Waste Facilities

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