Old Hawthorne Landfill — Brownfields Project |
Old Hawthorne Landfill — Brownfields Project |
Mineral County and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection have been working cooperatively since 2001 on a Brownfield project to clean up the Old Hawthorne Landfill just off the western edge of the town of Hawthorne (View Location Map).
The project has faced many difficulties, but ultimately, through local determination and program flexibility, cleanup efforts are underway which will significantly improve the quality-of-life of current and future residents of this uniquely Nevadan community. The Town of Hawthorne has a long and celebrated military history. The Hawthorne Army Depot became the nation's primary munitions manufacture and storage facility in the 1930's after the explosion of a munitions factory on the populous East Coast. The Depot, and the nearby towns of Hawthorne and Babbitt, reached their peak of population and activity in the 1940's during World War II. Even today, with scaled down operations, the Hawthorne Army Depot remains the premier facility for munitions recovery and recycling in the nation, and has one of the largest skilled, industrial workforces in the State of Nevada. The past population boom and the current military land usage surrounding the town of Hawthorne provide a number of unique challenges to this rural community. From 1929 to 1972, municipal wastes generated by the communities supporting the Army Depot was disposed of on property owned by Mineral County, being known today as the Old Hawthorne Landfill. The old landfill was unregulated and waste disposal practices were undocumented and at times haphazard due to the large amount of space available for disposal. Most generally, wastes were deposited in excavated trenches, burned and then covered with soil. The process would continue until an excavated trench was full. Today, the old landfill occupies roughly 200 acres of land variably impacted by disposed wastes ranging from landfill cells with numerous waste trenches extending 15' below the surface to areas of scattered surface debris piles. Due to the proximity of the old landfill to the town of Hawthorne (approximately a quarter mile from the western edge of town), illegal dumping continued to be a problem even after the landfill was closed by the County in 1972. 
The old landfill is negatively impacting the current residents of the County in two ways-by posing a possible health threat from exposed waste materials and by preventing expanded residential, commercial, and industrial development opportunities for the community. The town of Hawthorne is currently an island of private land surrounded by federally-owned and managed lands-most prominently, lands owned and managed by the Department of Defense.
The old landfill sits in the middle of the only land available for private development and acts as both an environmental and visual barrier to future, planned land uses. Based on community decisions made during master planning efforts, the area where the landfill sits was identified as a potential location for enhanced recreational facilities and increased residential capacity. Due to the economic development component of the landfill cleanup effort, the site was identified as a priority Brownfield under both the US EPA Region IX and State of Nevada Brownfields Program. Initial rounds of funding provided by the federal government were focused on the assessment of site conditions. Specifically, federal contractors were employed to identify and map landfill cells, detail their operational history, and characterize wastes through "potholes" which were dug down into waste trenches
The "potholes" gave the contractors a window into the wastes which allowed them to identify the types and depth of material buried in the trenches and the amount of soil which had been used to cover them-basically reconstructing historic activities which were not documented at the time of disposal. By using the information from the assessment efforts, areas of buried wastes and surface debris piles could be mapped and identified (See Cell Map Photo below). 
The full Site Investigation Report is available for download here (Adobe PDF File Format — 27 Pages 3 MB).
The next phase of the project was the construction of a site fence which would serve several purposes-to enclose the major waste areas which would later become the focus of cleanup efforts and to limit vehicle access to the area and discourage illegal dumping activities. The site fence was constructed by local labor with materials purchased from each of the town's two hardware stores (See Photo Below). 
The fence was constructed using grant funds provided by the Nevada Brownfields Program and under the oversight of the State Brownfields environmental contractor, Kleinfelder Inc.
Site cleanup efforts have just recently begun at the site. Cleanup efforts are being broken up in three phases. The first phase is the identification of any potentially asbestos containing materials or other exposed hazardous wastes which will be addressed by the State's Brownfields environmental contractor and removed from the site to eliminate risks to on-site cleanup crews. The second phase (1 page graphic 130KB) will be the consolidation of scattered surface debris for burial on the site in existing cells. One goal of the surface debris consolidation effort is the reduction of landfill area which has been fenced off, since much of that land is free of buried wastes. Elimination of surface debris would make land immediately available for other uses which may be a priority for the County Another goal is the visual improvement of site conditions to increase community interest in site cleanup and to discourage continued illegal dumping. The final phase of cleanup being planned would involve covering and grading the existing trenches and cells to eliminate exposure to buried wastes, reduce infiltration of rain and snow melt, and provide a more natural appearance to the landfill. A significant portion of the landfill cleanup (excluding the identification and disposal of asbestos or potentially hazardous substances) is being conducted through a community School to Work program providing employment opportunities to local high school students. Two crews of high school students are currently performing surface debris consolidation under supervision of Mineral County; the students have been provided training in the proper handling of wastes and have been outfitted with work clothes and equipment. The School to Work approach being pursued at the old landfill helps the County efficiently use the limited grant funding available for the project, provides valuable job experience for local youths, and creates a special involvement between the community and the cleanup project.
Related Documents
| Hawthorne Asbestos Abatement SpecsHawthorne AwardHawthorne Closure PlanHawthorne Report of Asbestos AbatementHawthorne Report of Fencing ObservationsHawthorne Report of Field ActivitiesHawthorne Request Grant Help LetterHawthorne Technical Justification2009 Final Summary Report - June 26, 2009For more information on the landfill cleanup project, please feel free to contact the Nevada Brownfields Program at (775) 687-9384 or the project contact with Mineral County, Don Orndorff (775) 945-2446. Please visit this site again for future project updates, also project updates are regularly provided in the Mineral County Independent-News.
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