PONTIAC -- The Livingston Landfill opened its doors Friday afternoon so community leaders, interested residents and children could tour the facility.

Allied Waste, a division of Republic Services, hosted the open house so people could see how the landfill operates and get information on planned new innovations. Tours were by bus, and people had the opportunity to drive up the landfill and see how garbage was disposed of at the site.

"It's pretty cool," said Riley Sholders, 12, of Rowe. "I liked watching them dump the garbage."

The landfill covers 730 acres, and at its tallest points, reaches 170 feet. It receives about 5,000 tons of waste per day from 250 trucks that travel from Bloomington-Normal as well as the Chicago area, said Mike Friend, engineer for R. Russell and Associates, who served as a tour guide.

Friend said that the landfill benefits the area because county received $3.8 million from dumping fees last year. More than $375,000 was also paid to the city of Pontiac in 2008 to treat 3.8 million gallons of contaminated rain water that builds up at the bottom of the landfill.

Marcus Nettz, landfill operating manager, also said the landfill is working on a project which would convert the methane gas into electricity. The facility currently burns off the methane gas, but this new system could power a town the size of Pontiac.