County eyes landfill expansion

Gazette Reporter

Whitman County is running out of space for its trash.

A study commissioned by the county’s public works department found the Carothers Road transfer station and landfill should reach maximum processing capacity by 2013.

To address the dwindling trash processing capacity, the county had consultant CH2M Hill look into the costs and benefits of several different options.

“We’ve turned over a lot of stones, and now we’re starting to get answers,” said Public Works Director Mark Storey.

The transfer station is capable of processing 30,000 tons of trash to haul to Waste Management’s mega-landfill in Arlington, Ore., every year. In 2009, the county processed 24,773 tons of trash.

Landfill Manager David Nails said the 2009 total dipped because the economy has put a crimp on large construction projects.

The 2008 total was 26,595 tons of garbage.

The all-time high was set in 2006, when 27,600 tons of garbage were run through the transfer station.

The most cost-effective solution, CH2M Hill found, would be to build two new cells on land the county already owns at the landfill.

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

New landfill cells would provide an alternate system for the present trucking process.

Tipping fees are the per ton rate charged by the station to users.

Use of the new cells could lower tipping fees $5 to $15 per ton, said Storey.

Storey said it would also provide an alternative option to renewing the county’s contract with Waste Management.

That contract expires in 2017, but can be cancelled by the county in 2012. Increasing costs for diesel may make canceling the contract an attractive option.

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. Nails said monthly surcharges have been averaging slightly more than $10,000 lately.

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.

Money saved from shipping to Arlington, said Storey, could allow the county to build a fund for further landfill expansion.

The county is also considering other options including construction of a new landfill facility elsewhere in the county, or hauling waste to a regional plant in Moscow or Asotin County.