Landfill hours, location, and disposal rules

Hours

  • Monday through Friday, 8am-4pm
  • 1st and 3rd Saturdays, 8am-11:30am
    • **When a holiday falls on a Friday or Monday adjacent to a Saturday we would usually be open, we will be closed that Saturday**

The Clay County Landfill does not accept:

  • Contaminated soil at this time

If you have a load of garbage and construction (demo) materials, you will need to sort them into different bins. We advise loading your trailer with construction materials in one area and garbage in another for an easier experience. Click here for a guide on what is demo vs garbage.

The Clay County Landfill is a mixed municipal solid waste land disposal facility owned and operated by Clay County. The Landfill (Permit No. 34), operating since 1972, encompasses 182 acres of the south half of Section 19 in Hawley Township (T139N; R45W.) Approximately 2/3 of the landfill acreage is utilized for landfilling activities with the remaining acreage consisting of swampy areas. Five full-time operators are employed at the landfill.

Location

The site of the landfill is located on a glacial moraine referred to as the Hummocky Moraine, consisting of great depths of glacial till, a heterogeneous mixture of silt, clay, sand and gravel; however, mostly clay is evidenced in the permitted working area of the site. Nearby and to the west of the site are the beach ridge aquifers.

These are ridges of fine-to-medium sand ranging from 10 to 30 feet in width and tens of miles long. Evidence of the nearness of these ridges to the landfill site is shown by the amount of sand found in some of the soil samples taken at the site. Borings made to a depth of 50 feet show little change in soil composition between the surface soils and the subsurface soil. The low permeability of this soil composition permits very little ground water to flow horizontally.

Operating Permit

The Landfill operating permit was renewed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) on October 19, 2009. The operation of the landfill is compliant with current State rules and regulations.

SW-34 Clay County Sanitary Landfill 2020 Annual Report 

SW-34 Clay County Landfill 2020 Annual Water Quality Report