By Kathleen Stinson |The Arizona Republic
The Maricopa County Air Quality Department has allocated $1 million for air-quality projects within a 5-mile radius of what used to be the Queen Creek Municipal Landfill as part of a settlement of allegations involving the landfill several years ago.
The funding comes from a $1.5 million agreement among the county departments of Solid Waste and Air Quality, former landfill operator Allied Waste Services of Phoenix and Queen Creek.
The county-owned landfill, on the north side of Riggs Road just east of Hawes Road, opened in 1972 and closed in 2007 when it hit its maximum capacity. Queen Creek had agreements with the county to manage it and with Allied Waste Services to operate the facility.
The Air Quality Department had accused the other three parties of multiple failures related to the landfill’s operation, according to Ira Domsky, a planning consultant. The allegations were never proved, according to MCAQD and Queen Creek.
