Solid Waste Task Force report

The continuing saga of what to do about garbage

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — County officials have a wide array of options to mull over in deciding the future of the county’s garbage, but none of them look all that appealing.

In order to get an idea of the available choices, Sullivan County Manager David Fanslau put together a Solid Waste Task Force, which issued a report on March 14. Here are some of the findings.

If the phase two expansion of the landfill goes forward, and no one knows now if it will or not, tipping fees at the landfill, now priced at $75 for general waste, will almost certainly increase. The report said, “In general terms, at the current tipping fees, phase two is not self-supporting without supplementation, or without importation of solid waste generated outside the county.” Importing waste from outside the county has been the third rail of garbage politics in the past; therefore an increase seems likely, but not for a few years.

Another item covered by the report was the possibility that the county could provide countywide collection service, and save consumers some money in the process. However, to make the plan work, the county would have to pass and enforce a local law requiring all garbage in the county to be processed at the landfill or one of the transfer stations.

The report pointed out that 14,000 tons of county-generated garbage, out of a total of about 80,000, are now going out of the county because of cheaper prices elsewhere, or because the landfill doesn’t accept a particular type of waste. There, said the report, “the county is losing more than $1.26 million annually by not processing those 14,000 tons of waste at facilities that were financed by taxpayer-backed general obligation bonds.”

Some officials don’t want those 14,000 tons because it would make the facility fill up faster, and officials are trying to make the remaining space last as long as possible until there’s a verdict on the expansion.

If the county chose to export all its waste, it would need to invest $3 million in upgrades to the five transfer stations, and because of increased truck traffic to the stations, an impact study would need to be “completed expeditiously” to see if they could handle the traffic.

In the garbage discussions, there has also been talk of investing in a bailing operation at the recycling center, which would enable the county to process more recyclables. The report estimated the cost of the bailing operation at $5.2 million, which would include more employees, and such things as additional turning lanes on East Broadway in Monticello.

Most of the available options will take quite a bit of time to achieve.

If, for example, the county decided to export garbage, and use the landfill facility as a transfer station, that would require a full state environmental impact study, which, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, could take up to three years.

There are landfills and incinerator operations in New York and Pennsylvania that would be interested in accepting Sullivan’s waste with prices ranging from $25 per ton to $85 per ton. The costs do not include trucking fees. The facility with the $25 price is in Seneca Meadows, which is more than 200 miles away, and with trucking costs added, the price would be at least $65 per ton.

The county could sell the operation to private industry, and two operators have expressed interest in buying it. However, the county would still be responsible for seeing that the facility lived up to permit requirements unless it sold the entire operation, including the real estate.

Another option the county has considered is getting out of the waste business altogether. Even if it did, which is not too likely because it would be politically unpopular, the county would not be allowed by the state to close the recycling facility, and would retain responsibility for running and enforcing the county recycling program in any case.

Other options, such as a shared services plan with Orange County, were also covered. County officials will be mulling over the options in the weeks ahead, all the while waiting to hear of whether the DEC is going to grant a permit for the phase two expansion.