CLEARFIELD – An essential component to Clearfield County’s integrated municipal solid waste management plan is meeting its capacity assurance requirement.
This is achieved by contracting with a permitted disposal facility or facilities and the county recently released a request for proposals for a 10-year period, beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
According to Solid Waste Authority Director Jodi Brennan, the county received seven proposals from disposal facilities and two from processing facilities (transfer stations).
The county can contract with transfer stations, she said, so as long as it has disposal contracts with the facility they use for disposal. SWAC’s first step was to evaluate the disposal facility proposals.
Proposals were evaluated and considered in accordance with mandatory pass/fail criteria. Any proposals, which fail to meet these criteria, are given no further consideration.
Then, there are point-rated evaluation criteria used to determine the relative technical merit of each proposal and the best overall value and benefit for the county.
The facilities with the highest point rating are asked to enter into negotiations for a 10-year solid waste services agreement with Clearfield County.
Brennan said two facilities failed to meet the mandatory criteria. The first was North West Sanitary Landfill (Waste Management), West Sunbury, Pa. (Butler County).
She said the facility didn’t have any available daily permitted disposal capacity to meet the 50 percent minimum and are scheduled to close in less than three years.
The second facility was Mostoller Landfill (Waste Management), in Somerset, Pa., (Somerset County), which failed to submit a D-2 form as required.
Brennan said the remaining five eligible proposals progressed through SWAC’s point-rated evaluation and the results are as follows:
- Wayne Township Landfill (Clinton County SWA), McElhatten, Pa., (Clinton County)
- Greentree Landfill (GFL Environmental), Kersey, Pa., (Elk County)
- Lakeview Landfill (Waste Management), Erie, Pa., (Erie County)
- Evergreen Landfill (Waste Management), Blairsville, Pa., (Indiana County)
- Laurel Highlands Landfill (Waste Management), Johnstown, Pa., (Cambria County)
On Sept. 28, Brennan said the SWAC was presented these findings along with a detailed explanation as to how each was ranked according to the RFP criteria.
She said SWAC unanimously agreed the top two ranking proposals – Greentree and Wayne Township landfills – were the most responsive based upon criteria and gave haulers a second choice.
She said SWAC also recommended the proposal from Centre County Recycling & Refuse Authority transfer station, which utilizes Greentree for final disposal.
“It would provide haulers a third option without losing any of the benefits associated with selecting the top two proposals,” Brennan explained.
The “only downside,” she said, is that voluntary donations/services will be less than what’s currently provided, resulting in a $21,500 cut annually in funds to support county recycling programs.
The commissioners on Tuesday accepted SWAC’s recommendations, authorizing Solicitor Heather Bozovich and Brennan to pursue contact negotiations.
Negotiations will occur with Wayne Township and Greentree landfills and the Centre County transfer station. This also initiates a 90-day public comment period, which includes a public hearing.
Sometime next January, SWAC will meet to review public comments, and, if need be, will make additional recommendations based upon that feedback.