Agenda - 03-27-2007-9a - Laserfiche WebLink

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Memo to Gayle Wilson ( 7 March 19, 2007 Page S MSW landfill closure in 2010. While the SWAB discussed many of these community-based issues noted above, since the site was already being used for solid waste operations, and will be so used for many years to come whether or not the WTS is sited there, the SWAB focused on two issues -the potential impact of the WTS as an additional burden on the Historic Rogers Road Community balanced against the imminent need for the WTS and the operational benefits to all of the County's citizens associated with its siting at Eubanks Road. As part of our discussion, we noted the benefits that have been directly granted to the Rogers Road community to mitigate the proximity of the landfill, and that should the WTS be sited at the Eubanks Road site, additional mitigation measures might be appropriate. Conclusion Some of these criteria are mutually exclusive, for instance location close to the point of MSW generation is usually associated with location close to population, traffic, schools, etc. In addition, and no matter where a facility is sited, there will be strong opposition. The SWAB felt compelled to make a recommendation to the BOCC that was in the best interest of all of the citizens of Orange County. Given that the Eubanks Road site was a very clearly optimal site from an operational and an economic standpoint and was available and owned by the county, and given that the SWAB (and staff) are very familiar with the Eubanks Road site, we recommended to the BOCC that the WTS be sited on Eubanks Road. We did not consider that acounty-wide site search and ranking exercise would yield any better site that would significantly better operationally, more readily available, and more publicly acceptable than the Eubanks Road site. Locationally, from an operational standpoint, the optimal site would be very close to I-40 in the general vicinity of the Eubanks Road Solid Waste facility, and thus would raise the same community-based issues as the Eubanks Road site, and possibly not have the same level of operational benefits. Finally, it is important to return to the US EPA Guidance for, help here, and note that at page 18, the guidance document makes the observation that "... despite the best efforts, every site has some shortcomings that will need to be addressed" and that "[s]iting any type of solid waste management facility has often been met with strong community opposition." The guidance then goes on to discuss that "host community agreements" for both private and publicly operated facilities might serve to mitigate community concerns. Such agreements range from operational controls on the facility (e.g. traffic route restrictions, operating hour restriction, or video monitoring of operations) to direct help to the local community such as road or utility improvements, provision of an education center, or financial support for other community-based initiatives. The potential for some form of mitigation for the Historic Rogers Road community was indeed part of the SWAB's discussion.