Decision time at the landfill

Hauling away the solid waste

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — With the county landfill set to close in January 2011, or shortly thereafter, lawmakers must soon decide which company will get the contract to haul away the county’s solid waste. Two companies made presentations at the government center on November 19: IESI/Seneca Meadows and Casella Waste Systems.

Both companies have presented proposals whereby they would assume operations of the five transfer stations in the county system, as well as the new one being planned for the site of the Sullivan County Landfill. The county’s solid waste would be trucked to landfills either owned by the companies or with which the companies have long-term contracts. All of the landfills are located some distance away from Sullivan County in New York or Pennsylvania.

One concern lawmakers had was that the companies would work to hire the 20 or so county employees that currently work in the county’s solid waste system, and representatives from both companies said they would do that.

Another concern was that the companies would be able to assist the county in implementing a more aggressive recycling program, with greater enforcement measures and incentives for residents to recycle.

Andy Moss, a business development executive with IESI, said that as a general rule residents recycle most when the process is easiest for them, such as in a single-stream system, whereby all of the recyclables, such as glass, plastic and metal, can be placed into the same container. He also said that the company would help implement whatever measures the county decides on.

Raymond Duerr at Casella said much the same thing and indicated that his company had recently helped one municipality move from recycling about 18 percent of its waste stream to about 38 percent, which he said was a significant increase. Some county officials, however, are aiming at a rate quite a bit higher than that, to as much as 70 percent, which has been achieved by the solid-waste system in Delaware County.

Lawmaker Jodi Goodman stressed that it would be the county’s duty to implement the more aggressive recycling programs, such as mandating the use of clear bags, which has been successfully used in the Village of Liberty, but which is likely to be politically unpopular, at least initially.

At a separate meeting later in the day, there was a presentation by Cornerstone Environmental Group, which has designed a significant expansion of the county’s municipal resource recycling facility (MRRF) to be located at the landfill.

The company has also designed the new transfer station planned for the landfill that will allow for the handling of solid waste before it is hauled away. Permit applications for the new transfer station have been submitted to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Construction of the combined facilities is expected to be about $7.5 million with a $1 million reimbursable recycling grant from the state.

Until the new transfer station is operational, the existing transfer stations in Ferndale and Mamakating will be used to transfer solid waste for long-haul shipping.

The county’s somewhat controversial plan to introduce user fees for every building in Sullivan County was not discussed at the meetings, but lawmaker Alan Sorensen is stepping up his opposition to it. He sent out an email to county residents saying the fees, which he calls a tax, are unfair to businesses and also to residents, “especially senior citizens, who don’t produce near enough garbage and refuse to justify the fee they are going to be charged under the plan.”

He said lawmakers need to go back to the drawing board and create a different plan.