Clark County’s authority on solid waste concerns has approved the issuance of a permit for a facility operated by the city of Battle Ground that has run for more than a decade without it.
During its Sept. 1 meeting, the Clark County Solid Waste Advisory Commission moved to allow Clark County Public Health to approve a decant facility solid waste permit requested by Battle Ground Public Works. The permit is intended to continue and expand operations at the city’s current wastewater treatment facility located near 1308 SE Grace Ave.
In September of 2021, Battle Ground city staff contacted Clark County Public Health for help on a grant to double the capacity of its decant facility, Clark County Public Health Environmental Public Health Specialist Melissa Sutton said at the meeting. During their research, the health department found the city’s current decant facility, which was constructed in 2010, didn’t have the necessary solid waste permit.
A decant facility is used for the separation of solids from liquids gathered during the operation of city services at its stormwater facilities. The city has been releasing excess water from its vactor trucks at the facility which drain into a sanitary sewer, according to the presentation at the meeting. Solids from the process are disposed of at an approved solid waste handling facility.
The permitting will allow the city to “dewater vactor trucks and stockpile street sweepings and vactor waste from City of Battle Ground owned vehicles.”
Clark County Public Health concluded the permit will allow the facility to continue its current decanting operations it has been undertaking for more than a decade, while also allowing for an expansion of the facility’s footprint on the city-owned property.
“All the neighbors are used to the sights and smells and trucks and traffic that goes along with those (operations,)” Sutton said.
Since the discovery of the discrepancy in permitting, Sutton said the city has worked with staff from the county health department and the Washington State Department of Ecology.
According to the information from the presentation, Ecology Facilities Specialist Derek Rockett said he is “very comfortable” with the operational plan of Battle Ground’s facility. Sutton said that Clark County Public Health also supported issuing the permit.
