LINN COUNTY- An active landfill's probably not what comes to mind when you think of possible places for outdoor recreation. But the Cedar Rapids-Linn County Solid Waste landfill north of Marion will offer that possibility on landfill property next year.

A landfill's primary purpose is providing a place to put the trash. And on Tuesday, landfill operators invited the media to see the opening of a new landfill cell. The giant 75-foot-deep pit covers an area the size of three football fields. It will provide the primary spot for most of Linn County's solid waste for the next three years.

But sometime next year, visitors to the so-called site #2 at County Home Road and Highway 13 north of Marion might consider packing fishing rods instead of garbage bags.

Solid waste media relations director Matt Krug said "we could see some opportunities for picnics, hiking, biking and non-motorized boat access--some really good opportunities."

The reason for that optimism is because the solid waste agency over the last several years has created a 13-acre fishing lake on the southern edge of the landfill property. The water comes from natural springs at the site that were diverted to the edge of the property.

Operators will plant thousands of trees this fall and stock the lake with fish sometime next year. Biking and hiking trails are also a possibility when the area opens to the public sometime in 2009.

Landfill operators said this lake is another sign the agency wants to repair some of the hard feelings from the years-long fight to expand the landfill north of Marion.

Karmin McShane, solid waste executive director, said "I think after the actual controversy ended we've come a long way to being good neighbors--participating in the community. And then there's our environmental projects--people are excited about it...it's more than a landfill."

When the landfill opens the fishing lake to the public there will be a separate entrance off Artesian Road away from the trash trucks and other landfill traffic. The area to be used for public recreation is several hundred yards from any active landfilling and high hills or berms will separate the areas.

Operators say one landfill in Des Moines does have an attached wetland trail. But as far as they know, this may be the most ambitious public use project at an active landfill in Iowa.