The Polk County Board of Commissioners approved replacing two monitoring wells at the old landfill along Hwy. 9 in Mill Spring.

The county approved spending $27,919 on the new wells during a meeting on Sept. 28.

Commissioners met with Stu Ryman, of Altamont Engineering to discuss replacing the wells.

Ryman said two of the wells at the now closed landfill are showing increased concentrations of metals and need to be replaced. He said the new wells will have modern technologies and will need to be installed within 250 ft. of the waste.

The county first proposed the replacement in early September with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources already approving the county’s application.

Of the $27,919, $5,033 is for Altamont’s services, $22,261 is for subcontractors to do the work and $625 in expenses.

Ryman said the project will take approximately 10 days to complete.

In April this year commissioners purchased 40 acres adjacent to the transfer station land in order to drill the new wells. The county spent $242,500 for the land and paid for it out of the county’s fund balance.

Polk closed the landfill several years ago and opened the transfer station next to the old landfill. Landfills require monitoring for many years and wells are required to monitor the landfill for chemicals, minerals and poisons.

The additional 40 acres means the county now owns approximately 140 acres at the transfer station property.