Stanislaus County supervisors approve $3.1M contract for environmental cleanup

Stanislaus County supervisors unanimously approved a $3.1 million contract for a technical firm to manage environmental cleanups at the former Geer Road landfill near Hughson.

The cost of the contract with Tetra Tech, BAS, Inc. could increase by $500,000 after the county submits an updated cleanup plan to the state later this month. An April 2011 cease and desist order from the state called for more aggressive actions to treat groundwater contamination that has slowly spread from the former dump.

The county has taken legal action contending that Modesto should pay for a share of cleanup costs. The two agencies jointly own the former dump, which received garbage from 1970 to the end of 1990.

The contract calls for Tetra Tech to oversee a gas extraction system and wells that extract and filter the tainted groundwater.

In the meantime, funding for the contract with Tetra Tech will come from a landfill closure fund and a portion of fee revenue from the Fink Road landfill.