ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 27, 1990                   TAG: 9006270435
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


BEDFORD OFFICIALS: LANDFILL CHOICE TO BE LESS COSTLY

The site chosen for Bedford County's new landfill will be cheaper to develop on an acre-by-acre basis than the county's second choice for the dump, officials say.

The new 363-acre dump site along Virginia 43 will cost about $30.5 million over the next 30 to 35 years to develop into a landfill.

That comes to $367,214 per usable acre, according to County Administrator William Rolfe.

The 545-acre site off Virginia 24 would have cost about $56.2 million to develop, or $409,813 per usable acre.

Earlier it had been incorrectly reported that a dump off Virginia 24 would cost $22.5 million, compared with the $24.4 million estimated cost of developing the Virginia 43 site.

After reviewing the updated figures, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors this month decided on the Virginia 43 dump because of the lower per-usable-acre cost.

The supervisors also said the Virginia 43 site was in a less densely populated area, was more centrally located in the county, and was the best site for collecting leachate.

In approving the Virginia 43 site, the supervisors went against the recommendations of a private consultant and a county citizens committee.

They also went for the landfill with the shortest life span. It was estimated that a landfill off Virginia 24 would last 15 to 20 years longer than the Virginia 43 site.

But Rolfe said the longer life span is not necessarily an advantage. With changing environmental regulations on landfills, he said the supervisors worried that the Virginia 24 site would be obsolete in 40 years.

In addition, a landfill there would have been near Goose Creek and would have required extensive drainage control measures. Costly work to pave and widen Virginia 807 for garbage truck traffic also would have been needed. - Staff report



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