Surrounded by a residential neighborhood near the high school, just beyond an idyllic field of tall grass and wildflowers dotted by pumps that burn off methane, is one of the most toxic waste sites in the state.
In 1971, a section of the former WDE landfill was permitted as a hazardous waste site. An estimated 6600 barrels of solvents, paint sludge, oil and other hazardous substances buried below the surface resulted in contaminated soils. Because of shoddy record keeping decades ago, officials aren't even completely sure of what they'll find.
"It was out in the middle of nowhere," Andover Mayor Julie Trude said of the city. "There were junkyards lining Bunker Blvd. and this seemed like a logical place back in the 70s to have people dump their garbage. As we know, many farms just thought the back pasture was a good garbage dump."
Water and wells are frequently tested and officials say the clean-up by professional crews does not pose a risk to the area. But for too long it ran the risk of serious environmental damage.
"When we have, literally, the potential of a health crisis right here if we don't do something, it's just paramount that we get it done," Rep. Dean Urdahl said.
The first bill Gov. Tim Walz signed in office was the final piece of funding, $10.3 million dollars, to once and for all remove the waste after four sessions of advocacy. What officials called temporary bandaids of removing the waste a truckload at a time was not cost effective and the road to getting it fully funded was full of obstacles. "I look forward to future endeavors like this where we do legislation simply because we should," Urdahl said.
Pit excavation begins in early August and should be mostly finished by the end of the year. A temporary tent structure will help limit vapors and multiple air monitoring stations will ensure that filtered air exhausted from the building is not dangerous either. The contaminated soil will be disposed of at an out of state facility and garbage currently on the site before it stopped accepting waste in 1983 will be moved into the hole.
Decision makers of the '70s perhaps didn't foresee Andover's significant growth in the first decade of the 21st Century, but officials say it’s a lesson to limit waste that goes to any landfill.
"Right now, domestic recycling markets have been flooded in the wake of China's decision to stop accepting materials from the U.S. and it's imperative that we act," Minnesota Pollution Control Agency commissioner Laura Bishop.
She adds that nearly 1/3 of what we throw away is organic material like food which can also be recycled and kept out of landfills.