Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 8, 1993 TAG: 9310080256
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN BARNES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Facing a Saturday deadline to close the old landfill - because it does not meet stiff new federal and state regulations - and lacking a permit to use the new dump, Bedford County is in a bind.
There's nowhere to take the trash.
"I'm caught between a rock and a hard place," said County Administrator William Rolfe.
"My old landfill doesn't meet standards. My new one's ready to go, but I don't have a permit, although it meets all the standards."
The old 40-acre landfill has accepted tons of garbage since the 1970s. The new landfill is more than five times that big, but its pits remain empty.
Rolfe has requested an emergency permit from the Department of Environmental Quality to open the new site. So far, his request has met delays.
Officials told him they need until Dec. 1 to process the paperwork for the regular permit.
In the meantime, what to do with the trash?
Rolfe is negotiating with Bedford to handle the load, but the city's landfill cannot accept both localities' waste until December.
"We could, if we get a permit, take trash Monday" to the new landfill, he said.
Down in the dumps
Bedford County isn't the only community facing a garbage problem.
If officials fail to close their noncomplying dumps by Saturday, they face a lengthy ground-water monitoring period - 30 years. For those who meet the deadline, testing is required only for 10 years.
Monitoring costs can run from $20,000 to $75,000 a year, making the cost difference between 10 and 30 years as much as $2 million.
Statewide, 40 communities have asked for extensions of the Saturday deadline, said Stuart Ridout, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Quality, and more still are coming in. If certified by a professional engineer, these communities could use their landfills until they reach capacity.
Closing a landfill can be an expensive process.
Layers of dirt, clay and topsoil must cover the site to a depth of 3 1/2 feet, said John Hubbard, chief executive officer of the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority.
The first layer is usually 6 inches of dirt, topped with 18 inches of compacted clay, followed by 12 inches of uncompacted clay and finally 6 inches of topsoil, he said.
Rolfe estimated this process will cost his county $1.25 million if no major problems are encountered.
And that's just the beginning of the total cost. The new landfill is running close to $3 million in construction costs, and operating costs will skyrocket from $120,000 a year to $1 million.
Garbage in, garbage out
But Bedford County may be getting off cheaper than some of its neighbors.
Officials estimate the Roanoke Valley's regional landfill, in southeast Roanoke County near the Blue Ridge Parkway, will carry a $5.5 million price tag to close.
An additional $2 million will be placed in escrow by the owners to cover ground-water monitoring expenses for the next 30 years. More than 2 million tons of garbage have been dumped in the landfill since it opened in 1976.
The regional facility is to shut down in December, and operations will move to a new landfill at Smith Gap in western Roanoke County.
The new landfill will feature a trash-transfer station and a railroad spur - and a $30 million bill.
Trash will be transported from the Hollins Road transfer station in Roanoke and hauled by rail to the Smith Gap site.
Salem also is shipping its garbage to a new site - Amelia County. The city hired a private hauler, Chambers Development Co., owners of landfills in Amelia and Charles City counties, to transport trash for the next five years.
Chambers is charging a $38 per ton tipping and transportation fee, which could result in increased fees for Salem residents, said Jim Fender, Salem's director of solid-waste management.
The service started Monday, he said, and seems to be running smoothly so far.
In Botetourt, county officials have decided to keep putting trash into the existing landfill.
"We're staying in," Botetourt County Administrator Jerry Burgess said Thursday.
Burgess said county officials believe any extra monitoring costs will be offset by what the county will save by using up the remaining space in its landfill. He estimates that a year's worth of landfill space is worth about $1 million to the county - and the landfill should have enough space for another two years.
Staff writer Mike Hudson contributed information to this story.
by CNB