Landfill expansion plan gets go-ahead

Whitman County commissioners Monday gave Public Works Director Mark Storey the go-ahead to begin negotiations to purchase land for a new landfill cell at the county’s Carothers Road transfer station.

Storey last week presented commissioners with an engineering study prepared by CH2M Hill that showed construction of a new landfill cell would be the best option for the future of Whitman County’s waste.

Storey said, if the county proceeds with building a new landfill cell, it would likely happen in 2016.

CH2M Hill’s study said construction of the new landfill would cost approximately $7.6 million, with long-term maintenance costing up to $15 million.

Most of the county’s trash now is trucked to Waste Management’s mega-landfill in Arlington, Ore. Storey said four to eight trucks haul waste to Oregon every day.

Fuel charges with Waste Management are based on $1.56 per gallon price of diesel. The county pays a surcharge when fuel prices rise above that mark.

That surcharge rose to as much as $30,000 per month when diesel hit $5 per gallon. The 2011 surcharge is estimated at $10 per ton.

Those surcharges impact tipping fees, the fee charged to those who dump at the transfer station.

Tipping fees at the landfill were raised from $65 to $95 in 2007. About two-thirds of that fee goes to paying Waste Management. The remainder is used to fund operation of the landfill and county recycling programs.

CH2M Hill’s study said the new cell would lower tipping fees each year, saving $30 per ton in 2020 and as much as $76 per ton in 2035.

In addition to escalating costs, the landfill is running tight on its ability to ship trash to Oregon.

The transfer station is capable of processing 30,000 tons of trash every year.

In 2009, the county processed 24,773 tons of trash. The all-time high was set in 2006, when 27,600 tons of garbage were run through the transfer station.

Storey said processing was near capacity a few years ago, but the construction slump brought on by the recession scaled back the amount of trash taken to the transfer station.

CH2M Hill looked at several options, including construction of a new landfill facility elsewhere in the county, or hauling waste to a regional plant like Moscow’s or Asotin County’s.

Currently, the landfill has one open cell for construction material and three closed cells at the landfill.

New landfill cells would be able to store trash in excess of what can be loaded on trucks to Arlington.

The new cell would add about 36 years of capacity.