5.4. SR 09-14-2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 6 of 7 Committed Partner in a Future Household Hazardous Waste Facility The Elk River Landfill is committed to a partnership with the City of Elk River and Sherburne County in the construction and operation of a Household Hazardous Waste and Recycling Facility. The Landfill will provide the land for the future HHW facility, and assist with the design, site development costs (grading of the site), and provide staff to ensure acceptance of materials during all hours the landfill is open. However, the Landfill cannot manage such a facility, and thus will need assistance from the Sherburne County and the City of Elk River with the costs of construction of the building, as well as with the permitting, operation, packaging and disposal of the collected hazardous materials. Having a HHW facility along with an expanded recycling center located at the Landfill would be a true convenience to area residents, as it would be one of the few facilities in the state where a single facility could manage all the waste disposal and recycling needs of area residents (recycling, HHW, C&D, MSW, etc.). Landfill Gas to Energy Since 1998 the Elk River Landfill has partnered with Elk River Municipal Utilities to produce energy from waste decomposition by extracting the methane gas and converting it to electricity to be distributed to local homes. The proposed new landfill capacity provides the opportunity to add a new gas to energy facility and provide additional green energy generation capacity. The Elk River Landfill has committed 100% of the costs for the construction and operations of an additional landfill gas to energy facility associated with the proposed additional landfill capacity, and will begin the permitting and the subsequent construction of the new gas plant upon receipt of approval. Waste Management's (WM) Statewide Commitment to Solid Waste Processing Waste Management is committed to the processing system that the State of Minnesota has advocated based on the waste hierarchy in state statute. Waste Management is the largest supporter of waste processing in the state, with our hauling division delivering more tons to waste processing facilities than any other waste hauler in Minnesota. Our commitment to processing is demonstrated by the fact that WM's hauling companies are contracted to deliver over half a million tons of waste to processing facilities each year, more than any other hauler in the state, amounting to an estimated $25 million a year. WM sends approximately 50% of the waste that we collect to systems that process waste. Both the processing facility and the Landfill are part of an integrated solid waste system. From the GRE testimony at the City Council Meeting on August 17th and in an August 31St a-mail to the City (attached), it is clear that the two facilities are both part of an integrated solid waste system, and that WM both historically and currently, has fully supported the Elk River processing facility. In fact, in this instance, WM has demonstrated leadership in the solid waste system of private and public entities, by showing support for the facility and thereby enlisting interest amongst all of the players in the system. Because WM's portion of the Hennepin County Contract has historically only been at 45% and today would be at 25%, it is clear that WM's commitment alone does not affect the viability of the Elk River RDF facility, and that all public and private entities that are part of the Elk River system need to sign contracts to supply the waste needed to keep the Elk River RDF facility operating. In fact to make up the lost difference in tonnage from WM's North Hennepin system, WM amended the agreement with RRT to include new tons from Eastern Sherburne and Anoka Counties. As discussed with City Staff, the Landfill's largest customer is the rejects and by-pass materials generated from the RRT processing facility in Elk River. From 2008 data provided to the City, the Landfill accepted approximately 31,000 tons of reject material from RRT and 38,000 tons of by-pass material from RRT, out of a