Wilder Landfill

The Wilder Landfill site adjoins the Recomp of Washington site at 1524 Slater Road, which is separated by the access road to the Friese Hide & Tallow facility at 1528 Slater Road. The Wilder Landfill and Recomp of Washington sites contain historical landfills. The Friese Hide & Tallow site contains a former leaking underground storage tank. 

The Wilder Landfill site contains a hazardous waste pit that operated under a disposal permit issued by Whatcom County Health Department (then the Bellingham Whatcom District Department of Public Health).

Weston Solutions (2003) prepared a Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection (PA/SI) report for the Wilder Landfill on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report was prepared in accordance with regulations under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), sometimes called “Superfund.”

Thermal Reduction Company began disposing waste in the hazardous waste pit in the summer of 1976, when they received a permit from Whatcom County Health Department. Waste deposited into the hazardous waste pit included “approximately 1,000 partially-full oil and resin drums, solvents, asbestos, catalyst beads from refineries, lignosite from Georgia-Pacific, pentathol (sic) from Crossarm and Bailey Lumber” and “insecticide from the highway department.” Lignosite is a wood pulp product that is mixed with metal plating sludge to make a drilling mud additive with elevated concentrations of chromium. Whatcom County Health Department revoked the disposal permit in the spring of 1979. Waste disposal stopped when the permit was revoked, but other sources indicate the pit was in operation until 1983.

Wilder sold the property south of the Friese Hide & Tallow access road to Thermal Reduction Company in 1985, but retained ownership of the property with the hazardous waste pit. The PA/SI reports hazardous waste pit coordinates on current Parcel No. 175689, but Figures 2-1 and 2-2 in the PA/SI report indicate the approximate boundary of the Wilder Landfill extends onto Parcels Nos. 175637 and 99453.

Based on their review, EPA (2003) does not anticipate further investigation under the federal Superfund Program. EPA (2003) stated that EPA’s no further action designation does not relieve the facility from complying with appropriate Washington State regulations. The hazardous waste pit is located on the Wilder Landfill site and was specifically excluded from the April 23, 2003, No Further Action request for the Recomp of Washington site.