Facing the garbage gap

New lawmaker pushes for the exportation solution

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY - Because of stalled progress on the proposed landfill expansion, the county is facing a time when there will be no room left, and the expansion space?if it ever comes?won’t be ready to accept garbage.

Sullivan County Commissioner of Public Works Bob Meyer made that clear at the meeting on January 10.

Newly elected legislator Alan Sorensen, who was elected partly on a platform of working to close the landfill, said the gap would last at least a year.

The capacity remaining at the landfill should last two more years.

So, what’s to be done after that?

Lawmakers could choose from a wide array of choices. One would be to continue to push for the expansion, and arranging for county garbage to be exported while the expansion is constructed. Another choice would be to get out of the garbage business altogether. To guide them in their decision, lawmakers are set to commission another study.

But Sorensen, who was formerly the county planning commissioner, said the assumptions made to generate the last study in 2005 were “fatally flawed.” He said it seemed to be a study that favored landfill expansion.”

His solution to the garbage gap is to move toward long-term exportation contracts to have garbage trucked out of the county, as has been done in other counties. Orange County, for instance, has a landfill, but it is unused because it is cheaper to ship the garbage to facilities in Pennsylvania and western New York than to put it in the local landfill.

Sorensen foresaw the county continuing to operate the transfer stations, and continuing to operate and expand the recycling program, but closing the landfill and shipping the garbage out of the area.

In furthering his argument, Sorensen cited the cost of the current landfill borne by the county to date. “This landfill business has brought nothing but debt for the county. Currently almost $40 million is attributable to the landfill. That’s almost 71 percent of the county’s debt.”

As the legal battle to obtain the necessary permits has dragged on month after month and year after year, lawmakers now seem more inclined to consider options that do not include construction of the planned expansion, which has long been adamantly opposed by the people who live near the facility in the most populous part of the county.

But many questions remain.

Lawmaker Leni Binder, for instance, reminded those in attendance that even if legislators decided to close the facility when it runs out of space, there will still be costs associated with the landfill for decades to come, as the decomposing garbage must be monitored and the facility must be maintained. Those costs, she said, must be considered in the study.

Lawmaker Kathy LaBuda reminded everyone that the county spent a great deal of money pursuing phase two because “13 townships wanted us to expand… if we want to change our direction that’s fine, but we have to see the numbers.” The county has reportedly spent more than $5 million for the purchase of land, studies and other costs in pursuing the expansion option.

Lawmakers agreed to recess the meeting so requests for proposals to conduct the study could be prepared to send to consultants.

Ron Hiatt, who represented one of the two districts whose residents were overwhelmingly opposed to the expansion, said he was glad to see movement on the matter. Of his ongoing efforts to convince his colleagues to close the landfill, he said, “The human and esthetic arguments just aren’t going to carry the day, but the economic one will.”