The Cowlitz County Landfill, captured on Thursday, Feb. 29 in Castle Rock. Millions in the state Legislature’s draft budgets could be approved to capture the methane produced at the landfill for energy.
Data from the Environmental Protection Agency indicates the landfill produced around 290,000 metric tons of methane from the breakdown of organic waste in both 2021 and 2022, making it one of the largest sources of methane gas in the entire state of Washington.
PUD spokeswoman Alice Dietz said the proposal would replace the current methane flaring equipment at the landfill with a series of combustion engines that would ingest and destroy methane as a renewable fuel.
“The landfill’s methane gas that is currently flared can, instead, be put to beneficial use and will provide a local source of renewable electricity estimated to power the rough equivalent of 4,500 homes per year,” Dietz said in an email.
Kalama school, Lake Sacajawea, Kelso grange
Four other projects in the county are included in both versions of the budget as of Friday. Those include funds for a pair of barrier removals on fish passages, one on Erick Creek deep in the foothills on the west side of the county and another on Goble Creek east of Rose Valley.
Some projects were only included in the capital budget by one chamber or the other. The House budget provides $1.15 million to the Vancouver-based Cascadia Technical Academy for them to open a natural learning center in Kalama, in collaboration with the Kalama School District.
Cascadia Tech Director Joan Huston told The Daily News the learning center would focus on forestry-related career education and projects, and has support from local timber and paper companies. Students from anywhere between Castle Rock and La Center would be able to attend classes at the new building.
On the Senate side, the approved budget includes $200,000 for a new irrigation pump at Lake Sacajawea Park in Longview to keep grass green in dry summer months, and $40,000 for building improvements at the Rose Valley Grange. Crunchy, brown grass is seen by Martin’s Dock at Lake Sacajawea on Thursday, Aug. 3 in Longview. Money from the state Legislature could help fix an irrigation pump at the lake to ensure the grass stays green during dry summer months.
Homelessness
The capital budget is not the only funding being negotiated by the Legislature this year. The fate of the requested funding to handle homelessness in Longview is uncertain as the chambers pass a supplemental operating budget.
The operating budget passed by the Senate on Feb. 23 included a requirement that $1.5 million from the state’s emergency housing funds must be provided to Longview for a “housing readiness program.” The money could be used for the temporary shelters at HOPE Village as well as the costs for severe weather shelters, housing and case management for people experiencing homelessness and other programs centered in Longview.
