Anchorage landfill contract hits $16M after starting at $30,004

A contract that began at $30,004 has grown to $16.1 million. The Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on Amendment No. 5 to its construction agreement with Roger Hickel Contracting, Inc., adding $983,510 for procurement of long-lead items for a new landfill gas flare, including shop drawings, submittals, shipping, and storage of materials, at the Anchorage Regional Landfill. Kelli Toth, director of Solid Waste Services, recommended approval. Funding comes from the FY26 Capital Budget.

The contract started in December 2021 as a construction management agreement. Four amendments followed, covering lagoon upgrades, aeration equipment, a stratigraphic well, and additional construction items. The memorandum also notes a correction to Amendment No. 2's recorded value, updated from $3,132,913.00 to $3,132,913.86 to reflect the actual contract value. The fifth amendment brings the total to $16,136,132.35. Municipal engineering documents have estimated the full project could reach $20 million.

The landfill currently trucks roughly 40 million gallons of leachate per year to the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility system in about 6,500 trips annually. Phase I upgrades leachate storage and pretreatment. Phase II, which would end the trucking through a deep injection well or another method, has not yet been contracted. Keith Baltozer, civil engineer with Solid Waste Services, wrote in the memorandum that approving Amendment No. 5 "does not obligate the Municipality to issue additional amendments to the CMAR for future work packages." Future work may include construction of leachate treatment and disposal infrastructure. The final disposal solution remains open.

The Assembly vote is scheduled for Tuesday, July 21.