Chico News & Review

Chico News & Review

Become a Monthly Supporter Best of Chico On Stands Now!
  • News
    • Local Government
  • Arts & Culture
    • Arts DEVO
    • Art
    • Film
    • Food
    • Music
    • Theater
  • Opinions
    • Second & Flume
    • The Goods
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Street Talk
    • Community Essays
    • Editor’s note
  • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 Stories
    • COVID-19 Updates
  • Wildfire
    • Wildfire Updates
    • Wildfire Stories
    • Camp Fire
  • Calendar
  • More
    • Spotlight
    • Best of Chico
    • CN&R Print Archives
    • Wildfire Stories
    • Guides
    • Local Dining
    • Discover Butte County
    • Contact Us
  • Sign up for the newsletter
  • Become a supporter
  • ADVERTISING/SPONSORSHIP
  • Contact Us
Hot Topics
  • [ March 20, 2023 ] No California salmon News
  • [ March 16, 2023 ] California storms create water paradox News
  • [ March 14, 2023 ] California considers right to vote for incarcerated News
  • [ March 8, 2023 ] Bullet train costs soar News
  • [ March 1, 2023 ] Journey to the other side of the park News
Spotlight

Fire, rain and a whole lot of trash; how a Butte County landmark–the Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility–bounced back

June 30, 2022 Debbie Arrington Comments Off on Fire, rain and a whole lot of trash; how a Butte County landmark–the Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility–bounced back
After the Camp Fire, hundreds of vehicles packed with debris wind their way into the Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility. Photo courtesy of Eric Miller
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on RedditShare on PinterestShare on Linkedin

Butte County’s longest active construction site, Neal Road Recycling and Waste Facility opened as a sanitary landfill in 1970, the same year as the first Earth Day, and has buried more than seven million tons of Butte County’s solid waste. The 200-acre facility on the outskirts of Paradise has kept up with changing laws and growing demand. Operated by Butte County’s Department of Public Works, it also has come back from a catastrophic one-two blow.

“Over its 51-year history, Neal Road Landfill operations has encountered many challenges,” says Eric Miller, Manager of the Waste Management Division of Butte County Public Works. “None compare to the impacts of the Camp Fire in November 2018 and subsequent floods later that month and winter.”

The worst wildfire in California history, the Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed more than 18,800 structures, mostly in Paradise. The intense blaze ripped across the open space between the town and the landfill.

NRRWF’s crew defended the landfill. With gigantic Caterpillar D8 bulldozers, they cut fire breaks. Water trucks irrigated grassland along the site’s closed landfill areas.

The Camp Fire was so intense, it created its own weather; temperatures at NRRWF dropped 30 degrees as the massive black cloud obliterated the sky.

“On the morning of Nov. 9, 2018, the closed landfill areas were consumed by fire,” Miller says. “Of NRRWF’s 75 landfill gas (methane) collection wells, at least 35 were destroyed. Nearly three miles of high density polyethylene plastic piping and culverts, which manage landfill gas collection and storm water controls, were destroyed.”

The Camp Fire also hit NRRWF’s staff hard; half the crew was forced to evacuate along with their families. Many lived in Paradise; a third of them lost their homes.

Despite the damage, NRRWF managed to reopen four days after the fire—with a partial crew—before electricity was restored. NRRWF reduced its hours for two weeks to address immediate on-site damage and operated without internet for nearly a month. NRRWF managers communicated with regulatory agencies and engineering consultants using only smartphones.

Then, it started raining.

“The winter season of 2018-19 brought unusually high rainfall, with the first of three major storm events that occurred in late November 2018,” Miller says. That was only a few weeks after the Camp Fire; intense storm events kept up into March 2019.

NRRWF’s rain gauge for that winter measured more than 37 inches of rain, 42% above normal. The rain, on the heels of fire damage, created major issues and subsequent challenges.

“Over its 51-year history, Neal Road Landfill operations has encountered many challenges. None compare to the impacts of the Camp Fire in November 2018 and subsequent floods later that month and winter.”



Eric Miller
Manager, Waste Management Division, Butte County Public Works

“While the NRRWF is designed to accommodate storm water management, these intense storm events delivered up to 2 inches an hour, further damaging the site after being crippled by the Camp Fire,” Miller says. “The NRRWF spent $2 million to repair Camp Fire damage and another $1.84 million to repair damage from subsequent floods.”

Much of what was Paradise is now buried at Neal Road. NRRWF’s average intake jumped from 500-600 tons a day before the Camp Fire to a daily peak of 12,000 tons a day in July 2019. During Camp Fire clean-up, an estimated 170,000 vehicles—including nearly 60,000 dump trucks—delivered debris. NRRWF was one of three Northern Sacramento Valley landfills that received Camp Fire debris; landfills located in Yuba and Shasta counties buried the rest.

Landfills have a definitive “lifespan”; there’s only so much room within a site’s limits. The Camp Fire’s massive infusion took up a lot of NRRWF’s“air space”—enough for almost three years of service to Butte County.

How can NRRWF stretch its space and service as long as possible? The site has a projected capacity until about 2050. One step is a new approach to organic waste—anything that’s plant or animal based. Organic waste represents our state’s largest waste stream and is also a major source of methane gas when allowed to decompose in landfill.

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in a 2018 study, reports that 34% of waste disposed in California municipal landfills includes organics. Nearly 10% of this material includes food waste. A new state law focuses on the diversion of organic waste (i.e. food waste and vegetative waste) to prolong landfill life. This organics waste stream will be directed to facilities to compost the material.

NRRWF and Butte County Department of Public Works are tackling these challenges while continuing to serve the needs of local residents—no matter what nature has in store.

Learn more at https://www.buttecounty.net/publicworks.

  • Butte County

Our content is free, but not free to produce

If you value our local news, arts and entertainment coverage, become an CN&R supporter with a one-time or recurring donation. Help us keep our reporters at work, bringing you the stories that need to be told.

Donate to CN&R

$36,917 of $6,000 raised
$
Select Payment Method
Personal Info

Donation Total: $10.00 Monthly

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on RedditShare on PinterestShare on Linkedin

These donations are not tax deductible. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit fund, the Independent Journalism Fund, please click here.

About the Sponsor

Butte County Public Works
Butte County is a place of natural beauty with countless opportunities for recreation in both rural and urban environments. Many Butte County residents live in one of the five incorporated towns or cities: Biggs, Chico, Gridley, Oroville or Paradise. Butte County government provides services to residents through 23 diverse departments. Services include elections, road maintenance, public safety, solid waste disposal, and health and human services.

Meet the sponsors

  • Butte County Public Works
    Butte County Public Works

    published 8 articles

  • Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP)
    Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP)

    published 9 articles

Our Sponsors

Butte County Public Works Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP)

Categories

Tags

arts Best of Chico Blue Room Theatre Butte County Butte County Public Health Butte County Supervisors California california drought Camp Fire Chico Chico arts Chico City Council Chico music Chico music scene Chico Performances Chico Police Department Chico State City Council city manager City of Chico Climate Change coronavirus Covid-19 Doug LaMalfa drought Enloe Medical Center Environment farming George Floyd Health homeless encampments Homelessness Housing letters to the editor Mark Orme Museum of Northern California Art music Pandemic PG&E police brutality Recycling redistricting Vaccine wildfire wildfires
Newsletter

Stay Updated

For the latest local news, arts and entertainment, sign up for our newsletter.
We'll tell you the story behind the story.

Sign me up!
Links
  • CN&R Archives
  • CN&R Guides
  • Best of Chico
  • Discover Butte County
  • RSS
  • Calendar
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Contact Us
Become a supporter
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on YouTube
Categories
Archives

©2020 Chico News & Review