Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 17, 1993 TAG: 9305170116
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
That is the dilemma Salem City Council will face in October, when state regulations will force the city to close its landfill at Mowles Spring Park.
"We have to make a decision soon," City Manager Randy Smith said.
Council can choose from four alternatives:
Open a new landfill at Mowles Spring Park under costly new state regulations.
Join the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority and ship the city's garbage to Smith Gap in Roanoke County.
Hire a private hauler to truck the city's garbage to a landfill outside the region.
Try something completely new - like grinding up the garbage and using it as compost.
City officials have been evaluating the costs, possible legal obstacles and technical challenges of each option. Council is expected to make a decision by July.
Smith declined to release cost estimates, saying he was hesitant to discuss numbers that could change in the next few months.
Smith also said he did not want to supply ammunition to residents who have filed a lawsuit to block the city's attempt to get a new landfill permit for Mowles Spring Park.
No matter which direction council takes, Salem residents and businesses will end up paying more to get rid of the trash they set out by the curb each week.
Council has budgeted an extra $500,000 in the coming fiscal year for trash disposal. Smith said council also may have to issue general obligation bonds to cover the cost of complying with new state landfill regulations.
The regulations are forcing Salem to rethink its two-step process for disposing of household garbage.
First, the garbage is burned at the city's waste-to-energy incinerator, which sells steam to the Yokohama Tire Corp. plant next door. Second, the incinerator ash is trucked to Mowles Spring Park where it is buried in trenches.
Under new regulations, Salem can continue to operate the incinerator. But it will have to close its landfill by October and begin burying its garbage in a facility with a plastic liner to protect water supplies from contamination.
Here are some of the considerations involved in each of Salem's four options:
Mowles Spring Park
Building a new landfill at the park would give Salem flexibility should the city decide to phase out the incinerator or pursue alternative means of disposal, such as composting.
The disadvantage could be money. Construction costs alone for a lined landfill would range from $100,000 to $200,000 per acre.
Salem plans to seek a landfill permit for the 230-acre park, located off Twelve O'Clock Knob Road, even if it decides to dump its garbage elsewhere. City Council has paid more than $150,000 to a Richmond-based consultant, Joyce Engineering, for technical assistance in submitting a landfill application.
"We've gone too far to turn back," Smith said.
Before it can get a landfill permit, Salem will have to defeat a lawsuit filed by affluent residents of Bent Ridge Lane. The landfill would come within 100 feet of one home, owned by Dr. David Cummings.
Peter Noce, whose house also would be near the landfill, said the city would save money by joining with other localities in sharing the cost of the regional landfill at Smith Gap.
Smith declined to release cost comparisons, but said it actually may turn out to be less expensive for Salem to go it alone.
"The residents [near Mowles Spring Park] say we're better off in Smith Gap because they don't want the landfill there," he said.
Smith Gap
Salem City Council last year voted to participate in the new regional landfill, located west of Salem in the Bradshaw section of Roanoke County.
But Salem has yet to pay a $603,000 entry fee and sign a formal contract because of questions about ash from the city's waste incinerator.
The regional landfill board is expected to charge about $55 per ton for household garbage. But the board wants to charge Salem more for ash.
The Roanoke transfer station, where garbage will be loaded into rail cars for shipment to the landfill, would have to make special provisions for handling the ash. And the landfill itself would have to build a mini-landfill for Salem because it does not want to mix the ash with regular household garbage.
The two sides have negotiated a price, but Salem has yet to act. Neither side would discuss details.
Another option would be for Salem to stop burning garbage and simply ship its garbage to the regional landfill under the regular tipping fee.
Private haulers
Salem City Council has received proposals from at least three companies that would haul the city's garbage and ash to a private landfill outside the area.
Smith declined to disclose the names of the companies or proposed fees, saying the information was part of confidential negotiations.
Two of the companies that Smith has talked to are Chambers Development Co., which has landfills in Amelia and Charles City County, and United Waste of Peterstown, W.Va.
Smith said the city may hire private haulers on a temporary basis if Salem does not have a permanent plan in place when its landfill closes in October.
Composting
Salem prides itself on doing things its own way, so city officials are tempted to strike out in a completely new direction.
Mayor Jim Taliaferro and other officials recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Florida, where they visited two municipalities that are grinding up household garbage for use as composting material.
Plastics and other nonorganic materials are culled before the garbage is shredded. The garbarge is stored for several weeks on concrete pads, where it decomposes.
The process is so new that both Florida localities are having technical problems, but Smith came back from the trip convinced that composting is a viable option for Salem.
"It's low-tech," Smith said. "It's not as hard to think through as our own incinerator."
One obstacle could be the fact that the state Department of Environmental Quality has never permitted the large-scale operation that Salem officials envision.
With composting, Salem still would need a landfill for the estimated 15 percent of the household waste that would not decompose.
by CNB