Agenda - 05-04-1987 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

U19 5 and more enforceable guidelines for continued, routine monitoring of landfill operations in order to minimize environmental damage and threat to human health and safety; (2) that the LOG establish and enforce strict regulations governing the transport and disposal of solid waste in Orange County; (3) that the LOG establish a hazardous waste collections program in order to remove these substances from the volumes being interred in the landfill; (4) that the LOG establish a simple and accessible information system in order to more easily educate county residents about the local solid waste situation; (5) that the LOG establish an accessible, direct and accountable grievance system so that county residents may easily address their complaints to the appropriate department or individual, and expect a quick response. (6) that the LOG should institute a continual review of criteria used to set landfill tipping fees, and that changes in the tipping fees should in the future be based on other than cost-of-operation considerations. This recommendation is included with the understanding that appropriate attention is being paid to this point in the regional solid waste study now underway (page 6, "Incineration") . State-of-the-Art Technologies Landfilling Landfilling has four attractions that many public planners find irresistible. It is convenient; it is relatively simple, both technically and economically; in short-term analysis, it appears relatively inexpensive; and it represents the status quo, the path of least resistance. Local planners have traditionally cited short-term economy as a compelling reason for not considering alternatives to landfilling. Residents dumping household refuse are charged just three dollars per ton. Private parties dumping construction debris pay just five dollars per ton. These tipping fees are among the lowest in the nation. Even so, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County collect and dispose of their solid waste so efficiently that the Landfill Owners Group (LOG) has accrued approximately $1,000,000 in revenues since the regional landfill opened in 1972. With these revenues the LOG has established the ' Landfill Reserve Fund, which was originally intended to pay for landfill expenses -- new equipment, new land, etc. -- and nothing else. The Greene Tract was purchased with money from the Reserve Fund. . Operating the regional landfill costs the LOG less than three dollars per ton. Estimated costs for alternative methods of waste disposal are much higher, somewhere in the range of 20 to 50 dollars per ton. This one fact makes continued reliance on landfilling seem to be a financially