Landfill plan moves forward

Draft permit issued

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — The campaign by Sullivan County officials to greatly increase the size of the landfill is a step closer to reality with the issuance of a draft permit to go forward.

Sullivan County Attorney Sam Yasgur gave lawmakers that news at a meeting on December 11, but added that significant steps remain. He said the development means that the staff of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is convinced the county has met the necessary requirements to receive the permit if the county agrees to more than 50 special conditions attached to it.

Yasgur said he will have discussions with the DEC about the special conditions in the next couple of weeks.

After that, the draft approval must be accepted by the administrative law judge who has overseen the application process, and also by the commissioner of the DEC. Yasgur said he believes that the county should know by the end of February 2009 whether it can move forward with the expansion, a proposal that has been strongly opposed by members of the Mountain Lodge Estates (MLE) and others in the community who live near it, and by county legislators who represent them.

However, the process may take longer depending on certain procedural decisions yet to be made by the DEC. Moreover, it is

possible that if the DEC allows expansion to go forward, the residents of MLE could appeal the decision in civil court. But Gary Abraham, the lawyer for the group, said they won’t know if that is an option until they see the decision.

He added, however, that MLE would examine all its legal options. In an email, he wrote, “MLE has legal options quite outside the DEC process, as there are a number of grounds for challenging the county directly, without involving the DEC. In addition, the [Village of Monticello] currently prohibits landfill expansions like Phase II. Should the village amend its local law, it too could be challenged in court.”

But the expansion was just one contentious aspect of county waste that was discussed at the meeting. Lawmakers for six months have been discussing the possibility of mandating the use of clear plastic bags for residents who take their garbage to the landfill or the transfer stations. This would help boost the rate of recycling, and prompt residents to more fully comply with county recycling laws. There was significant disagreement about how quickly and aggressively the county should pursue the clear bag option.

County manager David Fanslau’s suggestion has been that residents would be able to pay $2.50 per bag, the current price to dispose of garbage in clear bags, but should pay $10 per black bag.

Lawmaker Kathy LaBuda said that $10 was too much, and suggested that the price for 30-gallon black bags be increased to $5. There seemed to be general agreement about this, but it led to a discussion about whether the $2.50 for clear bags covered the cost of processing the waste. Fanslau said it did not.

The question of enforcement was also discussed. Lawmaker Jodi Goodman said that in the Village of Liberty, if residents mix recyclables in with the trash in the mandated clear bags, village workers would not pick them up, and this had lead to greatly increased recycling compliance in the village.

County chair Jonathan Rouis said he preferred to introduce the clear bag mandate gradually, perhaps stepping up enforcement sometime after the initial introduction. But, lawmakers did not take action on the matter, though they are likely to in the coming months.

The third waste matter discussed at the meeting regarded the $75-per-ton tipping fee charged to trash haulers. Fanslau has repeatedly made the point that the fee is not high enough to pay for landfill operations, and has recommended raising fees to $90 per ton.

This brought a strong reaction from two haulers who were in attendance. Paul Walsh, owner of Thompson Sanitation, said that in a particularly tough economic environment a 20 percent increase was too steep, especially when coupled with a proposed seven percent property tax increase for next year. He said the hike would be a “hardship to every business in the county.”

Shirley Felder-Morton, president of Sullivan County First Recycling, launched into a stinging attack of the legislators, which included a few off-color words, and accused them of forcing the haulers to act as tax collectors. She said, “$90 is unfair and unjustified, especially when people are losing their businesses and homes.”

As the situation stands now, the $3 million shortfall the landfill incurs each year is paid from the general fund, which comes in large part from real estate taxes and sales taxes.