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8 -- November 5, 2015
news letter journal NgW
editor@newslj, com ~
Friday, November 13th, 2015
9-11 a.m. at the
Weston CounW senior center
627 Pine Street, Newcastle, WY
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from page 1 ......................................................................................................................................................
From left, the DEQ's Craig McComie holds forth on available solid waste disposal options
as county landfill district board members Ed Wagoner and Ron Brunner listen last Tuesday.
McComie emphasized to the board that funding is only available through the DEQ for the cre-
ation of transfer stations to ship waste elsewhere and not for the siting of new landfills. (Todd
Bennington/NLJ)
Fa ailo Dmtal Crater
307-746-4600
laO South Seneca
45years experle e Newcastle, WY
Dr. Erickson... On Call 24/7... 746-8963
Kelley Portwine
shot this bull
east of Wright
stations, is probably the most
viable option. In answer to a
question about whether money
was only available from the
DEQ for landfill closures and
not for siting a new landfill,
McComie confirmed that was
the case.
"That's correct. There
are funds for [landfills] from
[the] State Revolving Funds
[Program]. Park County got a
SRF [loan] with $800,000 prin-
cipal forgiveness to line their
landfill, but those SRF moneys,
cooperation of the municipali-
ties within the county, which
account for the bulk of its pop-
ulation, McComie warned such
a project would not be feasible.
"My biggest concem with a
landfill is what if you site it and
they don't come," McComie
fretted. "Because if we're
telling you it might be five
years to get this thing up and
running, well, I can tell you in
five years we will have already
made Upton and Newcastle
make a decision with what
they utilized for their perfor-
mance based design landfills,
McComie noted, if that's the
option Newcastle ends up pur-
suing.
Even the utilization of a
liner, however, doesn't one
hundred percent guarantee a
particular property can be a
landfill site, McComie went on,
though he admitted the great
depth at which groundwater is
generally found locally is a
potential advantage and could
make the use of a liner more
has not replenished they're going to do with their economical.
i!e for 'e ness side'...... waste. We: re not going to have ...... Liner COSTS are all abo. t
:Sa : ;MeComie, adding that; vertieal ex sions just to hope how muchwaste you can get on
as federal loans, SRF money they're going to come to you. top of that liner," he continued,
comes with a number of strings
attached.
McComie, who serves in an
advisory capacity to the State
Loan and Investment Board,
contended also that SLIB
funding is an unlikely source
of money for landfill projects.
Though the Cease and
Transfer program, which pays
for up to 75 percent of costs
in the form of grants and loans
for landfill closure and transfer
station construction, does not
directly apply since the county
does not currently operate a
landfill, McComie said the
program could be relevant in
a scenario in which the county
works in conjunction with the
municipalities. For the county
landfill district to directly
receive Cease and Transfer
funds, however, it would be
required to first take over the
Newcastle landfill through
permit transfer, McComie
explained.
Asked by Ted Ertman about
the cost of closing local facili-
ties, McComie answered that
the general rule of thumb is
about $100,000 per acre and
that by his own calculations
closure of the Newcastle land-
fill alone would cost about $1.1
million.
In terms of siting a land-
fill within Weston County,
McComie expressed concerns
about economy of scale and
suggested an attempt would
need to be made to bring in
communities outside Weston,
such as Moorcroft and
Sundance. Without at least the
One, you need the contracts
in place, but, two, they're
already going to be shipping
somewhere by the time you've
got your doors open. Unless
your price is better than where
they're shipping, it's going to
be really hard to pry them out
of what they're doing."
McComie continued, enu-
merating a few other obstacles
he foresaw in terms of landfill
construction in Weston County.
"I think it's a real uphill
battle, whether it's that the
rapport doesn't exist with those
two communities currently, or
whether [the municipalities]
are going to be in a transfer
station situation at that point,
or [whether] Newcastle will be
going down the road toward
a performance based design
demonstration," he said.
Given the financial risks
involved in drilling test wells
and other costs associated with
siting a piece of property for a
landfill, McComie suggested
that the potential Newcastle
purchase of 40 acres contig-
uous with their existing landfill
might be the most promising
possibility. He seemed to indi-
cate, however, that the DEQ's
Dale Anderson, who would
be responsible for permitting
the facility, has some concerns
about the performance based
design option the city favors
in which design technique and
impermeability of soil would
substitute for a costly liner.
Torrington and Washakie
County might be approached
about what engineering firms
explaining the deeper they go
the more cost efficient they
become.
Dietrich, who has designed
landfills in the past, explained
that the bulk of the costs
associated with a new landfill
come upfront in the form of
siting, particularly hydroge-
ology studies. She estimated
a 40-acre landfill would entail
$300,000 to $500,000 in siting
and design costs.
"Here's the deal," McComie
concluded. "[The state] can
help you close your landfill.
[The state] can help you build
a transfer station. What it can't
do is help you with that [poten-
tial] new 40 [acre Newcastle
landfill] out there. If you want
to go down that [performance
based design] ro d, [the state]
can't help you. Ihat's all risk/
reward on you."
Brunner, who noted that
Newcastle already has much
of the infrastructure needed
for a transfer station in place,
worried that the sole use of
a transfer statior~ could place
the county at the mercy of the
whims of whomever they were
shipping waste to and that a
backup plan in some form is
needed.
Landfills cannot be moth-
balled as backups, McComie
explained in response, though
a minimal amount of refuse,
perhaps from construction and
demolition, might be placed
into them while the bulk of
trash is shipped elsewhere. A
landfill might also be sited and
permitted as a b ckup without
actually being constructed, he
said, though that would entail
considerable upfront costs.
McComie seemed largely
dismissive of such concerns,
however, seeming to believe
a number of options will con-
tinue to exist for the county in
terms of where waste can be
shipped. He noted Rapid City
and Campbell County, at $56
and $75 per ton respectively,
might be potential recipients of
waste. Casper charges $46 per
ton unless a written agreement
is entered into in which case it
can go as low as $35 per ton, he
further mentioned.
"There is no sure thing,"
McComie said. "The way
the City of Casper does it is
they say, 'You enter into this
contract with us and we guar-
antee we won't raise your rates
without raising our own cus-
tomer's rates'."
The Casper contract also
waves liability, though it stipu-
lates how waste will be sorted
and delivered, McComie con-
tinued.
Generally, transportation of
waste tends to run around $30
a ton, according to McComie.
A transfer station for the county
would probably cost between
$1.5 and $2.1 million, he added.
Ertman observed that a
county transfer station with
which the municipalities don't
participate would mean small
volumes of trash being shipped
at high prices.
McComie responded by
saying that is the reason that a
partnership between the county
and Upton and Newcastle is
key, as both municipalities'
garbage and votes are neces-
sary for the project's economic
viability and the potential
passage of a mill levy to help
initially finance it.
The levying of the three
mills allowed to the landfill
district might be possible,
McComie predicted, provided
it was clearly explained to
voters how and for what the
mills are to be used.
Dietrich and McComie
insisted they weren't
attempting to steer the board'
in any particular direction but
only giving an idea of what
options are realistically avail-
able. McComie said that DEQ
officials would be happy to
attend any stakeholder meet-
ings arranged between the
county and municipalities.
In terms of the ultimate
legal liability for landfills
within the county, in particular
the Central Weston County
(Osage) facility, McComie
emphasized he is not a lawyer
and would have to look to the
state Attorney General for a
more definitive answer. He
stated, however, that it is likely
that the state would look to the
county should the entity with
direct control of a particular
landfill for some reason default
on its responsibilities.
Toward the close of the
meeting, Commissioner
Rossman asserted that he would
not be comfortable with the
county taking over Newcastle's
facility but believed some sort
of cooperative arrangement is
in order. He said he believes
funds for landfills will be forth-
coming from somewhere, even
if it's yet unclear.
"The state doesn't know:
what they're going to do with
them, and they don't want to
encumber these poorer coun-
ties to have to truck it to
Casper or wherever ... There
will be something out there,"
he predicted.
At the request of the
rest of the board, Chairman
Ed Wagoner said he would
approach Newcastle about
putting together a work session
on landfills.
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