November 15, 2007
Commissioners to decide Waste Management deal
By Jennifer Larsen
News editor
The Adams County Commissioners expect to make a decision by the end of the month on whether to approve Waste Management of Washington’s unclassified use permit (UUP) or to look at extending the permit.
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which is specified in the original contract mitigation process, will make a recommendation to approve a new Mitigation Agreement with WMW during the public works general session on Monday, Nov. 19, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the county courthouse in Ritzville. Meetings are open to the public.
On Monday, Nov. 26, the
commissioners will review any additional public comment received and
make a decision during the morning session from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
TAC includes the county building and planning, health and public works departments. Loren Wiltse (building and planning), Brent Stenson and Todd O’Brien have met regularly since the county received the unclassified use permit and operational permit renewal requests in February.
The health department reviews the operational permit and the county commissioners are charged with authorizing the unclassified use permit.
Special Counsel Jay Derr will prepare the necessary documents prior to the two sessions with the commissioners.
Derr represented Adams County in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was involved with the county when it adopted a regional landfill permitting process and when it adopted the unclassified use permit process into code.
In the proposed new mitigation agreement, the changes would offer the county options in solid waste hauling and disposal.
According to O’Brien, the agreement would make it so two options would be available at a future date, even as soon as when the current contract’s renewal option is available in 2011.
O’Brien did say that all options presented at Monday’s meeting are after the current contract expires/renews in 2011.
“What this does is ultimately gives us four options,” O’Brien said.
Those four options are: expanding the Bruce landfill to receive waste in 2011; continue with the current long-haul contract; WMW build a county-only landfill to receive waste by 2011; or WMW allow free disposal of county waste at a current WMW facility in 2012.
TAC developed a spreadsheet to include six different scenarios that resulted from the discussions during the mitigation agreement process and the original mitigation agreement.
Each of the six options includes cost per year for the next 20 years, assuming that 16,000 tons are disposed of annually and figuring three percent inflation for dollar figures. All options currently cost $1,104,000 per year for transport, disposal, solid waste program, operations and other costs. The county will pay for transportation of solid waste in all options.
“I’m simply trying to figure the best option for future solid waste disposal,” O’Brien said.
No. 1 Expand Bruce to receive waste in 2011
• Transport is figured on 20 percent of the waste stream from Ritzville with the remainder already delivered to Bruce
• Costs (annual) for transport, disposal, solid waste program, operations and other: $2,389,557 in 2027. Total cost: $35.6 million
A study of costs and feasibility to expand the Bruce landfill and convert it to a county-only landfill was completed when WMW first started.
A consultant recently reviewed the study and determined that at this time Bruce is not an economically sensible option. It is feasible, but it’s the highest cost option available to the county at this time.
O’Brien explained expansion is limited by the physical location of the landfill. With what expansion can be done, he said Bruce should be able to handle the current waste stream for 17-23 more years.
No. 2 Continue current contract, hauling to out-of-county landfill
• Costs: $1,993,947 in 2027. Total cost: $30.5 million
No. 3 WMW build county-only landfill to receive waste by 2012
• Costs: $1,622,032 in 2027. Total cost: $25.7 million
With this option, the county would be required to operate the county-only landfill and the transfer station.
If the landfill becomes regional, operational costs would parallel the current costs and other costs would become zero.
O’Brien said this option is small scale for the purpose of providing free disposal to Adams County residents and WMW would have the option to convert it to a regional facility.
WMW would build the facility and the county would run it. In the original mitigation agreement, WMW would cover transportation costs to the landfill. The county would retain transportation costs in the new mitigation agreement.
No. 4 WMW allow free disposal of county waste at current WMW facility in 2012
• Costs: $1,387,052 in 2027. Total cost: $22.7 million
If the Washtucna landfill becomes regional, operational costs would parallel the current costs and other costs would become zero.
Once the current contract expires, the county could haul to a WMW facility out-of-county – Columbia Ridge in Oregon. Transportation costs would mirror the current long haul costs. O’Brien said if the county chose to start transporting solid waste, costs could change.
The fifth and sixth options are variations of options three and four, depending on whether WMW opens the Washtucna site as a regional facility.
No. 5 WMW allow free disposal of county waste at current WMW facility in 2012. WMW goes regional in 2015
• Costs: $1,035,024 in 2027. Total cost: $18.8 million
If the Washtucna landfill becomes regional, operational costs would parallel the current costs and other costs would become zero.
No. 6 WMW build county-only landfill to receive waste by 2012; WMW begins regional facility in 2020
• Costs: $1,035,024 in 2027. Total cost: $21.5 million
Once the facility becomes regional, WMW would take over the operation and county residents would still see zero costs for disposal. The county would still pay for transportation costs.
Original agreement: Long haul under current contract or until WMW begins regional facility
This is the current contract with the county. The contract expires Nov. 30 unless the commissioners grant an extension.
Derr pointed out through his analysis of the options and cost comparisons, the county’s future would include some form of a regional landfill in handling solid waste.
“It’s an economically better solid waste picture,” he said.
The agreement that the county will review on Nov. 26 will be “an agreement that we think reflects the best option for the county,” Derr said.
As it’s written now, the agreement leans toward option No. 4 because it allows county residents to benefit from free solid waste disposal and allow for changes in the future.
“(Option) Four is pretty much accepting the offer that Waste Management sent you,” Derr told the commissioners. He explained that the option allowed the county to choose to continue as is or for WMW to open a landfill in Washtucna.
Also included in the new mitigation agreement is removing the expiration for the unclassified use permit. The operational permit would still be reviewed by the health department every five years.
“The reason I am comfortable with it is because of what’s built into the mitigation agreement still,” Derr said. “The operating permit has to be reviewed every five years. That’s a cycling permit that will continue… It is not at all uncommon for unclassified use permits and conditional use permits to be granted indefinitely.”
Facilities that manage solid waste must meet the requirements of chapter 173-304 WAC, Minimum Functional Standards for Solid Waste Handling Facilities, according to the Department of Ecology’s Web site at www.ecy.wa.gov.
O’Brien explained that because the operational permit is reviewed every five years, if operational changes at the landfill have had an environmental impact, it could trigger the SEPA process.
The county first approved an unclassified use permit for a regional landfill around 1993, according to Derr.
The county health department, which was the health district at the time, issued the first operating permit in 1997 and renewed it in 2002.
In January, the county looked at whether the environment has changed, if Adams County’s waste stream changed, how to address rising costs of solid waste operations in Adams County and whether technology has changed in solid waste during the contract mitigation process.
WMW submitted a request to: renew the Unclassified Use Permit, extend implementation dates and modify the mitigation and settlement agreements, extend the construction and implementation dates for an additional 10 years and submit a corresponding request to the health department to renew the full permit for a similar 10-year period on Feb. 16, 2007.
The health department issued a one-year renewal of the full permit on May 9 and issued a full permit for municipal solid waste landfilling that expires in 10 years for construction of the landfill.
The commissioners approved a three-month extension of the project implementation schedule and an amendment to extend the date for starting construction by resolution in May, and again approved a project and construction extension in September for Nov. 30.
“From our standpoint, it’s been a long haul and a lot of people have put a lot of work into it,” Ken Gimpel, Municipal Relations Manager for Eastern Washington/Idaho, Waste Management, said. “I think we’ve come to a resolve that benefits everyone and with benefits in the future.”