Tough cell

Sullivan landfill leasing and exportation proposals

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — With the county now losing about $3 million per year on the operation of the landfill, it is perhaps not surprising that no company has expressed interest in buying it outright.

On the other hand, there are companies that would be willing to lease the landfill or enter into contracts to truck the county’s municipal solid waste to another county or state.

The deadline for the county’s request for proposals regarding the future of the landfill ended on September 26, and the legislature will start to decide which course it wants to follow.

A Vermont company, called Casella Waste Systems of Vermont, submitted a proposal to lease the landfill, and pay for virtually the entire cost of going forward with the controversial phase two, which would add several additional cells to the existing landfill. The company would retain county employees and would pay the county a per-ton host fee for each ton of waste it takes in.

Another lease proposal, this one from a company called IESI NY, calls for the county to pay for the expansion and to allow for the importation of out-of-county garbage, a practice that has stirred intense opposition in the past. Both proposals, of course, would depend on whether the Department of Environmental Conservation allows the phase two expansion to go forward. And the answer to that will probably not be known until the spring of 2009.

There are several proposals from companies that are willing to truck waste out of the county, but all of those are contingent on the construction of a transfer station at the landfill in Monticello, which would involve a rather lengthy permitting process. The prices for exporting garbage range from $67 to $100 per ton, as compared to the current price of $75 per ton. But those prices could easily rise because the costs are tied to the consumer price index and the cost of fuel.

County manager David Fanslau said that his staff will be crunching the numbers in the next several weeks to give lawmakers an idea of the relative costs of the various leasing and exportation proposals.