Agenda - 02-16-2010 - 5c - Laserfiche WebLink

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EXHIBIT C Memorandum To: Laura Blackmon, County Manager From: Gayle Wilson, Solid Waste Management Director Subject: Change in Landfill Operations — Effective Immediately By Order of NC Division of Waste Management, Strict Regulation of Incoming Materials to Construction & Demolition (C &D) Landfill To be Enforced Impacts: Estimated Shift of 8,000 Tons from C &D Landfill to MSW Landfill; Potential Reduction of Available MSW landfill Capacity by Five Months; and Additional Disposal Costs for Customers Date: April 18, 2008 The NC Division of Waste Management (DWM) recently notified the Solid Waste Management Department that strict regulatory adherence will be applied for incoming materials to the Construction and Demolition (C &D) landfill beginning immediately. According to state rules regulating C &D landfills, only C &D waste "generated solely from the construction, remodeling, repair, or demolition operations on pavement and buildings or structures" is authorized to be placed in a permitted C &D landfill. "C &D waste does not include municipal and industrial waste that may be generated by the on- going operations of buildings or structures ". This distinction thereby prohibits, for example: 1) a piece of broken pipe scrap collected from the backyard during a home clean up from being placed in C &D; 2) material generated at a cabinet shop operation, even if it is plywood with laminate or other similar material, from burial in the C &D landfill; 3) a piece of damaged hose generated from a home use is not allowed whereas the same scrap piece of hose from a construction site would be allowed, and 4) a small sawed end of a "2 by 4" from Home Depot's shop is prohibited, but the same piece of wood from a construction site is allowed. During a March visit by our region's DWM Inspector, it was observed that as much as half of the material currently being placed into the County's C &D landfill did not fall under their definition of C &D above. It often originated from cleanups and other non- construction activity. Due to this distinction, and under the threat of issuance of a notice of violation of the County's landfill operating permit, our region's state inspector has mandated that Orange County change our operations immediately to comply. Accordingly, the staff estimates slightly more than 50% of current C &D wastes will need to be diverted to the lined MSW landfill. This equates to an additional 8,000 tons of material a year that now will need to be placed into the MSW landfill. It will impact the County in loss of an estimated five months of available MSW landfill space and a cost increase of 15% cost to our customers ($47 per ton in MSW compared to $41 in C &D).