Facility opened in 1991 to handle region’s solid waste
Marlene Feist, Director of Strategic Development, Public Works & Utilities, (509) 625-6505
Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 9:15 a.m.
The City of Spokane will host a rededication ceremony to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the City’s Waste to Energy Facility (WTE), located at 2900 S Geiger Blvd, on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m. Citizens who want to attend the ceremony should be at the facility’s administration building at 9:45 a.m.
“We are pleased to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this great facility. Spokane’s Waste to Energy Facility opened 25 years ago to replace leaking landfills that had become Superfund cleanup sites and were located over our sole-source drinking water aquifer,” says Chuck Conklin, who oversees both the WTE and the City’s Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility. “Today, the facility continues to serve us well, providing an efficient way to dispose of our waste in a way that’s more environmentally friendly than landfilling.”
Additionally, public tours of WTE will be available on Sept. 22 at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Close-toed shoes are required, and tours start at the administration building. Citizens interested in a tour can call 625.6580 to reserve a slot.
The Waste to Energy Facility is part of the community’s overall comprehensive solid waste system, which also includes recycling and composting. The facility burns municipal solid waste and generates electricity. The facility can handle up to 800 tons of waste a day and can generate 26 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 13,000 homes. The power is sold to Avista Utilities.
Since its start up in 1991, the Waste to Energy facility has processed more than 6.5 million tons of municipal solid waste and generated more than 3.2 million megawatts of power. The process reduces the solid waste 90 percent by volume and 70 percent by weight. In November 2014, the City took over operations of the WTE facility, following 24 years of operation by a private sector company under contract with the City. The City also operates a customer disposal site at the facility.
Besides the rededication ceremony, the City also marked the WTE anniversary with the creation of a mural on the northeast end of the Maple Street Bridge. The mural project, which was completed earlier this summer, features the work of Spokane artist Todd Benson.
