MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Work on drainage improvements on a former geothermal waste collection site is set to begin this week near Middletown.
The 460-acre property, formerly operated by Geothermal Inc. from 1976 to 1986, is located at 19020 Butts Canyon Road.
It had been used to collect wastes including plant and sump water, drilling muds and drill cuttings.
Pacific Gas and Electric – one of the companies that had used the facility and which took over responsibility for its maintenance in 2003 – gave a presentation to the Middletown Area Town Hall in June on plans for improvements at the site, as Lake County News has reported.
More details about that meeting can be found at www.bit.ly/1JPwfci .
PG&E reported that beginning on Monday, and continuing into January, it will be conducting fieldwork at the site to improve the water drainage.
That work will include drilling soil borings around the landfill perimeter, excavating a trench adjacent to the landfill and installing a drainage pipe, PG&E reported.
PG&E said neighbors of the landfill can expect to see construction equipment – including a drill rig and trucks – at the landfill over the next two months.
Company spokesman Brian Swanson said they installed piezometers at the site to measure the groundwater levels beneath the landfill ahead of the work.
“We did that work in September with the intention that we'll come back around this time to install the drainage,” he said.
As for the impact of the Valley fire, “The fire did not delay the work,” Swanson said.
“There's a fire break around the site that helps,” he said, noting the fire may have brushed up against the edge of that break.
The work at the site is being overseen by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.
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PG&E to begin drainage improvements at former geothermal waste collection facility
- Elizabeth Larson
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