State tries new tactic to put out underground landfill fire

PASCO, Wash. (AP) — State officials are trying a new tactic to stop a fire that has been smoldering underground for nearly two years at the Pasco Sanitary Landfill.

The Department of Ecology says the fire was discovered in November 2013 in an area where municipal wastes and shredded tire debris were dumped.

Under a new plan, workers will dig a trench up to 40 feet deep and three feet wide to encircle the area of the landfill that is burning. They'll fill it with a mixture of clay, cement and soil, which will harden and box in the burning wastes. The area will then be filled with water and slurry to cool and wet it.

The agency says there is no immediate threat to people living near the site.

The 250-acre landfill is a federal Superfund site. It no longer accepts waste.