The Solid Waste Division of the Public Works Department is required by State and Federal regulations to complete semi-annual groundwater monitoring and quarterly landfill gas monitoring at the Billings Regional Landfill.  The current three-year contract to provide these services expired January 2014.  Staff conducted a formal consultant selection process and four proposals were received and reviewed by the committee, with Tetra Tech as the selected consultant.  Staff is requesting a three-year contract with an option for a two-year extension to maintain consistency in the monitoring requirements.

As owner and operator of the Billings Regional Landfill, the City of Billings is required by State and Federal regulations to conduct groundwater and landfill gas monitoring.  Failure to do so would result in non-compliance, Montana Department of Environmental Quality enforcement action and monetary penalties.

The Solid Waste Division annually budgets adequate funds to complete the required environmental monitoring and reporting for the Billings Regional Landfill.  The contract amount of $112,702.94 represents an increase of $2,705.94 over a similar three-year contract awarded in 2011.

Federal and state environmental regulations require all owners and operators of municipal solid waste landfills to perform semi-annual groundwater and quarterly landfill-gas monitoring to determine environmental impacts from landfill operations.  The Billings Regional Landfill, owned and operated by the City of Billings, is Montana's largest municipal solid waste landfill.  The landfill receives over 225,000 tons of waste per year from a six-county area.  The site has been active since the early 1960's.  Although the areas currently receiving waste consist of lined cells, more than 80 acres of waste sit on unlined ground.

The first groundwater-monitoring program was initiated in the 1970's using bailing procedures.  In the 1980's, a Well Wizard sampling system, consisting of dedicated, down-hole air-activated pumps, was installed to assure accuracy and consistency in sample collection.  In 1993, the State of Montana adopted the performance standards for landfill groundwater monitoring and landfill-gas control under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Subtitle D regulations (40CFR, Part 258).  In anticipation of the Federal and State requirements, the City of Billings installed a series of landfill-gas and groundwater monitoring wells in October 1992.  The groundwater monitoring system currently consists of seven wells, two background and five down gradient, sampled and analyzed semi-annually for approximately 80 parameters under ARM 17.50.1306 of the Montana Solid Waste management regulations.  The landfill-gas monitoring program consists of seven on-site wells and 25 on-site structures.

The current contract for environmental services expired following completion of the January 2014 landfill-gas monitoring event.  This contract would provide for the necessary services to continue the on-going monitoring program at the Billings Regional Landfill involving data collection, sampling, laboratory testing, hydrogeologic and geologic analyses, statistical analysis and documentation of groundwater and landfill gas.  The Solid Waste Division completed a formal consultant selection process in January 2014 and recommends Tetra Tech.