LAKEPORT — The Lake County Public Services Department is considering importing waste from Ukiah, among several options, to help make up a $500,000 deficit left by the county”s landfill, according to its deputy director.
The economic downturn coupled with increased participation in recycling programs has significantly decreased the amount of revenue earned by the Eastlake Landfill, according to Caroline Chavez, deputy director of Public Services
“Our belief is that it makes sense, to protect the environment and the ratepayers, to try and go ahead and bring in some import for awhile,” said Chavez.
The department is also considering increasing the tipping fee, or rate per ton of waste, at the landfill to a minimum 33 percent.
Chavez said such a significant increase could negatively impact the environment, potentially leading to more illegal dumping. “If I raise rates here, we”re going to harm the environment,” she said.
The landfill has faced significant revenue losses every fiscal year since 2007/08 and currently has a $500,000 deficit projected for fiscal year 2010/11, despite reducing its operating expenses by nearly $500,000 in the past year, Chavez said
Chavez said that the increase in recycling has negatively affected the landfill”s revenue in the sense that the recyclable waste that was once taken to the landfill is now being diverted elsewhere.
“The only place we get money is if you throw something away,” Chavez said.
C and S Waste Solutions brought a proposal to Lake County earlier this year, Chavez said.
C and S is a parent company whose offshoots include Lake County Waste Solutions, which hauls residential, commercial and business waste for unincorporated areas in the north part of the county from Konocti to Clearlake Oaks.
Clearlake Waste Solutions, which services the city of Clearlake, is also managed by C and S.
Another C and S offshoot, Ukiah Waste Solutions, operates a transfer station in Ukiah. Waste collected from the city of Ukiah and the Ukiah Valley is sorted at the transfer station and hauled to a landfill in Fairfield.
Bruce McCracken, a partner at C and S, said that the contract with the landfill in Fairfield expires in 2011, compelling his company to explore other options for Ukiah”s waste.
C and S contacted six landfills in northern California about a potential waste import agreement, to which Lake County responded, McCracken said.
“We think Eastlake is a good option,” McCracken said because importing to Lake County could help “sure up Eastlake”s financial condition and regionalize the waste stream.”
The C and S proposal outlines a temporary import agreement, ranging two to five years, with a possible expansion for 15-18 years, according to Chavez.
The import agreement would force Ukiah Waste Solutions to reduce its waste by 30 percent before hauling it to Eastlake, Chavez said. She estimated the extra tonnage from Ukiah would equate to two or three extra truckloads received by the landfill per day.
Chavez said one potential downfall of an import agreement would be that space in the landfill, which has been traditionally reserved for Lake County citizens, would decrease. “The space is worth something,” she said.
Eastlake has enough space to hold Lake County”s solid waste through 2025, using its current 200 tons per day average. The landfill is not taking in its 200-ton average and with the addition of imported waste, would still not exceed that average, Chavez said.
Public Services introduced the proposal to a group of stakeholders, including the waste hauling companies, representatives of Lake County and representatives of the cities of Lakeport and Clearlake, at a meeting of the county”s Solid Waste Task Force on Oct. 12.
Bob Pestoni, owner of South Lake Refuse and Recycling, said about the proposal, “That importation would not impact us,” other than the potential of “using up the landfill.”
South Lake Refuse hauls trash recycling from businesses and residents in unincorporated areas of southern Lake County, including Hidden Valley Lake, Cobb and Middletown.
The option of increasing the tipping fee was also discussed during the meeting.
The 33-percent increase would raise the per ton rate for an average customer from $37 to $49, according to Chavez. The haulers” rate is less than the average customer but would still be raised 33 percent.
The 33-percent increase would be passed on to the haulers” curbside and commercial customers through a smaller percentage increase. “It”s going to amount to pennies” per month, Pestoni said.
“The county really needs to look within themselves to find alternative means to regain those losses,” said Lance Butcher, operations manager for Lakeport Disposal, which services businesses and residents of the city of Lakeport.
The 33-percent tipping fee increase would cover only the $500,000 deficit over the next five years whereas the importation proposal, most likely coupled with a smaller tipping fee increase, would cover the deficit and provide revenue for future landfill and waste projects, Chavez said.
Several mandatory projects will need to be funded, including an estimated $3 to 5 million for the installation of a landfill gas system around the perimeter of Eastlake.
The gas system project would need to be completed within the next two years, unless Proposition 23 passes, Chavez said.
Proposition 23 would suspend requirements outlined in AB 32, California”s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, until the state has experienced jobless rates of fewer than 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters.
The need for the landfill gas system within two years is based on one of the requirements of AB 32, Chavez said.
Any potential importation agreement would need to be approved by the Lake County Board of Supervisors and the city of Ukiah.
Denise Rushing, District 3 Supervisor and member of the Task Force, said she recognizes the county faces “a complex problem.”
Rushing said she would like the county to take “a strategic view for the future,” which would include managing landfill waste for other uses such as natural energy, but recognizes that the county”s landfill faces “a short-term cash-flow problem.”
A contract would have to be generated by C and S, Lake County and the city of Ukiah, according to Chavez, and would apply “for a period of time, not forever.”
Chavez said her department is currently “crunching the numbers” regarding the potential import, while still considering other options. Chavez said she plans to present a proposal to the BOS in early 2011.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
