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GRANGE CGUNTY <br />BOARD GF CGMMISSIQNERS <br />ACTIUN AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: April 5, 2011 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. ~ Q <br />SUBJECT: Landfill Ca acit ~ tions <br />DEPARTMENT: Solid Waste Management PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTAGHMENT~S~: INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Memo to County Manager- March 2, <br />2011 Gayle vl~ilson, 968-2885 <br />Willie Best, 245-2308 <br />PURPOSE: To receive a staff recommendation from among three options for extending landfill <br />capacity, and to provide guidance to staff on a final decision. <br />BACKGROUND: Beginning in 1972 with the initial opening of the County landfill and extending <br />to the present, the expected life of the landfill has evolved. In 1989 the expected life of the <br />landfill was projected to be through 1997. <br />There are numerous variables involved with the continually changing capacity expectations and <br />projections. Disposal volumes have varied over the past 40 years. Changes in regulations, <br />changes in operational best management practices, equipment and techniques, effectiveness <br />of recycling and waste reduction programs, public environmental knowledge and awareness, <br />state and local bans, increasing tipping fees, evolving regional disposal options, etc. have all <br />contributed to extending the life of the facility. There is also difficulty with predicting the landfill <br />biodegradation process at work that varies due to the types of waste, moisture content, age of <br />waste, compaction, etc. However, moving forward there are fewer opportunities, to significantly <br />extend the life of the facility as the above variables will have a diminishing impact. <br />Upon the hiring a new engineering consultant ~HDR Engineering, Inc.} last summer, County <br />staff asked that the landfill facility be given one last thorough evaluation to prepare for facility <br />closure and to determine if any final possibilities for obtaining further capacity might be <br />identified, without expansion of the facility footprint. HDR's evaluation is summarized in the <br />attached memorandum to the County Manager. This memorandum proposed three potential <br />courses of action with regard to landfill capacity and remaining life. In the attached March 2 <br />memorandum, County Solid Waste staff has recommended option two, which would extend <br />landfill life to about January 2017. <br />Along with the Board's consideration of providing direction to staff with regard to its preference <br />for landfill capacity options for moving forward and whether the Board concurs with the staff <br />