The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has the primary responsibility for regulating LRI's Solid Waste Handling Facilities. The staff is highly educated and professional in their dealings with our company.

Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
The Health Department is an agency separate from Pierce County government with a seven-member board serving the entire county and all its cities and towns. The Health Department's role in solid waste management is to implement programs to ensure solid waste handling complies with state and local solid waste regulations. This includes the permitting process and enforcement for solid waste facilities under the State's Minimum Functional standards (MFS) (WAC 173-304) (WAC 173-350) and the Criteria for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (CMSWL) (WAC 173-351) and other waste-related local regulations.

The Health Department's Environmental Health/Waste Management Programs assure protection of the public from health risks and environmental contamination resulting from the handling and disposal of solid and hazardous waste materials. Through these programs, the Health Department performs regulatory oversight of the solid waste handling and disposal sites in accordance with State solid waste regulations and the Tacoma-Pierce County Solid Waste Management Plan.

Regulatory oversight includes activities such as permitting, monitoring, inspecting, and enforcement.

Waste Disposal Authorization (WDA): This program provides a mechanism to review and authorize the disposal of suspect wastes at Pierce County facilities. Program components include: review of available information regarding the waste from the generator; coordination of sampling and analysis requirements with the landfill operators and the Washington State Department of Ecology; inspection of the waste generators process and sample collection; review of waste analysis results; issuance or denial of the disposal authorization; inspection of the disposal facilities compliance with the disposal authorization requirements; development of policies and procedures related to the WDA program; and education regarding various waste streams. The Health Department works closely with LRI staff via the WDA process and site inspections.