When OMNI Environmental Solutions, Inc. wished to expand its oilfield waste management services in North Dakota’s Williston Basin, OMNI turned to Barr to assist with site planning, investigation, design, permitting, and construction of the WISCO Oilfield Special Waste Landfill. This landfill has a composite liner and a leachate collection system. A clay cap and vegetated soil cover will be constructed in phases as the landfill reaches final fill grades. Leachate is managed on site through use of an evaporation pond, also designed with a composite liner. Backup leachate management systems are used when extended wet periods are encountered. Barr is assisting WISCO with modification of its landfill permit to allow the facility to accept technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM).
During the permitting phase, Barr investigated hydrogeologic conditions then worked closely with our client and state regulators to demonstrate that the site’s low-permeability conditions will provide additional safeguards beyond the liner system’s protection. Because topsoil and surface water protection are priorities in North Dakota, the facility was designed to protect these scarce resources. A detailed topsoil management and reuse plan was developed, and surface-water modeling helped incorporate a properly sized and located stormwater pond into the design. Barr is providing ongoing groundwater and surface water monitoring and reporting support, along with design and construction management support for periodic construction projects to develop landfill disposal capacity.