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History of Public Health's Garbage Collection program
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Sixth Avenue South Dump, 1927
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Requirements for sanitary fills varied considerably over the decades. By 1919, in relation to the establishment of a fill in the industrial district, it was demanded that the fill "be covered with dirt instead of sawdust as the use of sawdust is not only prohibited, but is unsatisfactory because of settlement and of fire hazard."
Early experiments in garbage disposal included incineration and the dumping of waste from barges into Puget Sound. However, the most popular method of garbage disposal in Seattle during the first half of the twentieth century was an almost indiscriminate use of landfills.
By 1914, Public Health reported that it was operating eleven sanitary fills, including dumps at Interbay, Salmon Bay, and Union Bay. Writing in 1915, Superintendent of Garbage, C. L. Murray, praised the efficiency of the filling method of disposal, claiming that Seattle was uniquely "fortunate, as there is an almost unlimited number of places within our city limits, which can be beautified by sanitary fills."
It was common practice for Public Health to circumvent the objections of those living near the dumpsites by promising that the fill, when completed, would become a park. Former landfill sites that were developed as recreational facilities include the Green Lake field house, the Washington Park play field and the Columbia City play field.
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| Sanitary Fill by the Columbia Library, 1938 |
One of the many neighborhood landfills that was eventually converted into parks or other usable property by the City of Seattle was the sanitary fill adjacent to the Columbia Library near the time of its completion (see picture at right.)
By 1935, however, Chief Sanitary Inspector Allan T. Butler concluded that, "As time goes on, it is becoming more difficult to establish and maintain garbage fills, because of the many objections made by property owners in the vicinity of such fills. Within a short time it will be necessary for us to adopt some other means of garbage disposal," including incineration. In 1943 there were six landfills operating within city limits: the Interbay dump, University dump, Judkins Street dump, the Sixth Avenue South dump, the West Seattle dump, and the Genessee dump. Two of these sanitary fills (Interbay and University) also were designated as burning dumps, while a third site at Second Avenue South and Kenyon was used exclusively for burning.
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