| Abstract |
The Colbert Landfill, a 40-acre county-owned sanitary landfill is located in Spokane County, Washington. From 1968 through 1986, the landfill received both municipal and commercial wastes. During five years, from 1975 to 1980, a local electronics manufacturing company, Key Tronic Corporation, disposed of several hundred gallons per month of spent organic solvents, mainly methylene chloride and 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA) at the landfill. These wastes were typically brought to the landfill in drums and poured down the sides of open trenches to mix with the soil or ordinary municipal refuse already in the trench. During the same period, Fairchild Air Force Base, disposed of various solvent wastes at the site. Pesticides and refinery tar residues were also disposed on site, but to date, these contaminants have not been detected in the ground water. In 1980, nearby residents complained to the Eastern Regional Office of the Washington Department of Ecology about these disposal practices. |
