Every day the shipping containers are loaded onto a train and carried 360 miles to the small town of Roosevelt on the Columbia River. The trip takes about 12 hours. The shipping containers are removed from the train in Roosevelt and loaded onto trucks. The garbage is trucked to the nearby Roosevelt Landfill and unloaded, and the empty containers are returned for re-use. Leachate is the result of rainwater leaching pollutants out of the garbage.
Pipes collect the leachate so it can be treated safely.
A different set of pipes collects the methane gas which naturally results from decomposing garbage. This prevents contaminants in the methane gas from polluting the air. Every day the garbage is covered with soil to eliminate odors and to discourage seagulls, rodents, and other scavengers. We need transfer stations that can safely and efficiently handle the large amount of garbage generated throughout the county. The transfer station in Everett is located on City of Everett land and the lease expired December 31, 1994.