CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield County Commissioners on Tuesday accepted the Veolia Greentree Landfill proposal, authorizing its solicitor to initiate the contract agreement that will be conditional to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s approval of the plan later this year.
In February, Planning Director Jodi Brennan revealed the Integrated Municipal Waste Services proposal that was endorsed for the update to the county-wide solid waste management plan. In addition, she received the board’s approval to submit a written notice of the county’s plans to the DEP.
Brennan reported that the Solid Waste Advisory Committee convened Jan. 20 and unanimously voted in favor of Veolia. Since then she said the Clearfield County Solid Waste Authority has also approved the Veolia proposal.
On Jan. 16, local waste haulers and municipal officials heard the details surrounding the eight proposals and the arrival at the selection of the Veolia landfill. “There was an excellent turn out, I think, with positive feedback. Also, I think we adequately addressed their concerns,” she said.
None opposed the proposed landfill plan and appeared to find the cost favorable, she said. According to Brennan’s prior report, the Veolia rate was $39 per ton and has an escalation rate of 2 percent annually, which was the lowest among the proposers.
Further, she outlined the benefits of selecting Veolia over the others. For example, she said if a small hauler makes two trips to a landfill per day at five days each week, it’s transporting about 8 tons per trip, or approximately 4,160 tons per year.
Under the proposed plan, Brennan said the hauler would save on the following if it used Veolia, which is the closest at 69 miles away, versus Laurel Highlands, the second closet at 121 miles. She said there would be an annual tipping fee savings of $85,280 and an annual fuel and labor savings of $35,880.
She said the total annual financial savings would be $121,160 and result in a total savings of $1.2 million over 10 years. She said that carbon dioxide would be reduced by 200,089 pounds annually, or 2 million pounds over the course of the term.
In addition, Brennan drew comparisons between Veolia and Wayne Township, which was the second-rated proposal by the SWAC. Here, if the hauler still went with the first choice, she said there would be an annual tipping fee savings of $45,760 and an annual fuel and labor savings of $54,080.
She said that there would be a total annual financial savings of $99,840, which, in turn, would amount to $998,400 over 10 years. She said that carbon dioxide would be reduced by 289,133 pounds annually or by 3 million pounds over the term.
Brennan noted that Veolia presented three offers to the county and had a clean compliance history. Their evaluation was based on the best of three offers, however, she said, indicating that it reduced the cost for the operation of the county’s drop-off program by $48,000 annually and by $480,000 over the course of the 10-year plan.
She said it offered a financial contribution toward other county recycling and waste management programs in the amount of $140,000 per year or $1.4 million over the course of the term. There would also be one free tire collection awarded to the county each year.
According to her, the county opened its 90-day public comment period March 2, and it will expire May 31. A public hearing has been scheduled regarding the proposal for Tuesday, April 26, she said.
She said the commissioners will tentatively adopt the solid waste plan July 5. The adopted plan will then be distributed to municipalities for its ratification period, which ends Oct. 4 and at which time it will be sent to the DEP, Brennan said.
She said that the county will receive approval from the DEP sometime between Nov. 4 and Dec. 4. On Dec. 15, she said the integrated municipal solid waste management contract is scheduled for execution, and a copy along with other implementation documents will be sent to the DEP.
Brennan said that the new 10-year solid waste plan will be effective Jan. 1, 2012.
