Three years left for Cell 5 dump site, planning for new Cell 6 & 7 underway
Worcester County’s public works department is proceeding with plans to expand the county landfill before its current dumping ground fills up.
The county commissioners at their Oct. 21 meeting approved Public Works Director Dallas Baker’s request to build out two additional containment areas, or cells, at the central landfill.
The landfill’s current destination for detritus, known as Cell 5, is on pace to top off between December 2027 and March 2028. It means the landfill will need to have a new Cell 6 ready to go before Cell 5 reaches the end of its useful life.
The commissioners unanimously approved Baker’s request to spend $899,404 in reserve funds to contract for design, permitting, construction, and inspection services with the firm EA Engineering, Science & Technology. The department’s Solid Waste reserve fund has a balance of more than $12 million, according to Baker.
The engineering firm already conducted the study that estimated Cell 5’s expiration date.
“The time frame to design, permit, and construct a new landfill cell before the existing Cell 5 becomes full is tight, but achievable if work begins in 2025,” Baker wrote in an Oct. 13 memo to county officials.