Growth may force early expansion of landfill

By Danielle Strenke
With growth in volumes of waste coming into the Mora landfill facility, expansion to phase 5 of the landfill could be completed one year earlier.
At its regular meeting Monday, the East Central Solid Waste Commission approved the pre-selection process to begin the search for a construction company to complete the project.
Executive Director Allan Bonini, attending his final regular meeting before leaving the commission for a new position April 1, told the commissioners that an expansion was necessary.
ìWe are forced to look at expanding this summer because of our volumes, instead of next year,î Bonini said.
Volumes of waste taken in at the Mora facility have grown 4 to 5 percent annually. Bonini said the phase 5 expansion should be ready to accept waste by the end of the year, as phase 4 nears capacity.
ìWhat will the expansion take us out to ñ 2006?î asked Isanti County Commissioner George Larson.
ìBased on our projections, we could run out of air space by the end of 2005 with the expansion,î Bonini said.
He told the commissioners that was one of the challenges of the strategic plan, because phase 5 is the final phase in the commissionís current permit.
While land space is available to expand up to phase 16, the commission would need to request a new permit through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
ìWe can gain 9 percent airspace if the state gives permission to change slopes,î Bonini said. ìThat could bring us to late 2006.î
The commissionís charter expires in 2007; it is required to provide a solid waste program to the five-county joint powers through the end of that year.
Bonini said if there are not any more options to utilizing more space in the existing phases, the commission will need to apply for a major expansion permit.
ìHow long would that take?î Larson asked.
Bonini said it is a long process that could take 2 or 3 years. ìOur five-county solid waste plans donít support major expansions, they support waste through this plant here,î he said. ìThat will be a discussion during the strategic planning process.î

Strategic planning moves to stakeholders stage
The commissionís strategic planning firm, Envirogen, is nearing completion of the first year in the 18-month strategic planning process. The current phase will consist of several meetings with stakeholders, including commissioners and other county representatives, township representatives, waste haulers and other members of the public.
The first stakeholderís meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25 at Kanabec County Courthouse. Three other meetings will be spread out to other locations in the five counties.
The commissionís next regular meeting is April 14 at 9 a.m.

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