Why Are We Talking Trash?
We have a growing problem...and
need to find a reasonable solution!
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that on average, each person
in our country generates about 4.5 pounds of solid waste per day, and about 32%
of that solid waste is recycled or composted. In Wyoming, each person generates
about 6.3 pounds of solid waste each day, and most of it ends up in one of our many
landfills. Not only are many of our landfills filling up, but some of them appear
to be leaking and polluting our environment.
Only 3 of Wyoming’s 51 operating landfills are designed and constructed with liners
that capture and remove the pollutants that leak out of landfills. The reason not
many of our landfills are lined is because we have always assumed that the combination
of our semi-arid climate, abundance of fine-grained soils, and responsible operating
practices would minimize the potential for problems to develop. However, available
monitoring data now suggest that many of our unlined landfills are leaking and polluting
our groundwater resources. It costs a lot of money to clean up groundwater once
it is polluted. It also costs a lot of money to design and construct landfills with
liners to prevent groundwater contamination. Although Wyoming has a lot of open
spaces, we are discovering that it is no longer responsible to just keep digging
more holes to bury our solid waste.
In 2005, the Governor asked a Citizen’s Advisory Group to investigate the problems
caused by our current solid waste management practices, and figure out how we will
address these problems in the coming years. This group worked with the Wyoming Solid
Waste and Recycling Association (WSWRA), the Wyoming Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ), and the Joint Minerals, Business, and Economic Development Committee,
to prepare legislation that would help local communities study waste management
issues and identify safe and cost-effective solutions. In 2006, the Wyoming Legislature
passed a law requiring the operators of Wyoming’s existing landfills to prepare
20-year integrated solid waste management plans. The intent of this law is to encourage
operators of existing local facilities to carefully consider using larger, regional
facilities and systems that are more cost-effective to operate and provide more
environmental protection.
Your elected officials and the solid waste professionals in your local community
have been working hard to manage the solid waste you generate in a safe and cost-effective
manner, but their job is getting harder, and is likely to get more expensive. Planning,
siting, designing, permitting, and constructing new solid waste management facilities
takes time and money. We can’t wait until our current system is completely broken
before we decide to fix it. The Trihydro Corporation, a Wyoming-based environmental
consulting firm, is working with your local elected officials and solid waste professionals
to help them identify and evaluate solutions to the problems they are facing. You
are invited to get involved in this project and “talk trash” with us.
Who Is Talking Trash?
The people in your community that take care of your solid waste have decided to
work with their counterparts in your neighboring communities to address their current
solid waste issues. The core of your local planning group includes your elected
officials and landfill managers, but it also includes other people and groups that
have a stake in the outcome of this project, such as public and private collection
system operators, recycling volunteers, and the local media. One of the reasons
that multiple communities are working together is to make sure that they are eligible
for the maximum reimbursement available under the State’s grant program – yes, this
is a FUNDED mandate. More importantly, however, it may be necessary to share local
resources and facilities in order to implement a cost-effective solution that will
serve your community’s long-term needs. Although we are going to be evaluating regional
solutions to local problems, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your local landfill
will have to close, or that your local landfill will have to accept solid waste
from another community. Operators of all existing landfills are required to prepare
a 20-year integrated solid waste plan, but no one will be required to implement
any recommended changes unless they decide that the changes are reasonable, cost-effective,
and in their best interests.
What Is Integrated
Solid Waste Management Planning?
The purpose of integrated solid waste management planning is to identify and evaluate
a combination of waste management options that complement each other, and provide
a cost-effective and environmentally sound solution to a particular community’s
waste management issues. Instead of just relying on a landfill to manage all the
waste that is generated, the benefits of waste diversion, recycling, composting,
special waste management, and transfer systems are considered. The integrated solid
waste management planning process is designed to answer three basic questions:
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What are we doing now? We’ll be preparing a detailed analysis of how your
local community is currently managing its wastes (collection, diversion, recycling,
composting, transfer, and disposal), and what it really costs to provide these services. |
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What options should we consider? Once we have a good understanding of how
our current system works, we can begin to identify reasonable alternatives, the
pros and cons of each, and how much they are likely to cost. |
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What option is most reasonable and how do we do it? At the conclusion of
this project, your local planning group will be recommending a “preferred alternative”,
and then deciding how to implement it. If the preferred alternative involves significant
changes to your current system, it will be necessary to figure out when those changes
will occur, who will pay for them, and how they will work. |
How Can You Get Involved?
We’ve already held a project kick-off meeting with your local planning group and
stakeholders to introduce the project and get organized. A series of public presentations
and meetings will be held over the coming year and a half to explain what is going
on, listen to everyone’s concerns, and identify potential solutions for each community.
This project will end on July 1, 2009, when everyone’s final plan has to be submitted
to WDEQ. Please keep your eyes and ears open for more information about this important
project, and feel free to attend any of our meetings because they are all open to
the public.
If you have any questions, would like more information, or just want to offer
your thoughts on this matter, please visit our web page (www.WesternWyomingISWM.com)
or write to us at:
Western Wyoming ISWM
c/o Trihydro Corporation
350 Garfield Street, Solar Suite
Lander, WY 82520