For the Region 2000 Services Authority, the year 2029 looms close on the horizon as the estimated date at which the regional landfill in Rustburg will reach capacity.
During the past few years, authority staff and board members have explored possible options for the region’s solid waste disposal through 2050 once the life of the landfill has expired. Authority staff members presented a short list of options in a meeting this week for the Campbell County Board of Supervisors to consider during the next few months.
The existing landfill on Livestock Road accepts solid waste from the city of Lynchburg and the counties of Appomattox, Campbell and Nelson. Representatives from each locality sit on the Region 2000 Services Authority Board, which must make the final decision about future waste disposal options for its members.
However, they first must seek input from local officials and citizens to determine how the authority will handle solid waste after the landfill reaches capacity. The permitting process for a new landfill can take up to 10 years, which is the reason localities must begin considerations now.
Authority Director Clarke Gibson said his team solicited public input about future options through work group meetings, service authority meetings, focus groups, website surveys and a September 2016 public informational forum. Authority staff also received input from major commercial haulers who use the current landfill.
The working group was composed of representatives from all four local governments. They reviewed “viable, doable options that are available to us today with today’s technology on how to manage solid waste,” according to Gibson.
The first option presented for solid waste disposal post-2029 was a transfer station. If the authority chose this scenario, waste disposal trucks would enter the facility, dump waste on concrete floors and then exit the facility. Once a certain amount of waste accumulates on the floor, it is loaded onto a tractor-trailer that hauls it to another landfill.
Gibson said the authority likely would use a private landfill in Amelia County if officials chose this option. The projected cost of service for a transfer site is $62 per ton for members, nearly double the current rate of $30.25 per ton.
The second proposed option is expanding the current landfill in Rustburg onto an adjoining property owned by the services authority board to add 20 years to the life of the landfill. Gibson said this alternative adds 60 acres to the current landfill but still stays within Campbell County’s approved landfill district.
He said the authority previously presented an expansion plan for this tract of land, referred to as the Bennett property, to the Campbell County Planning Commission in 2015 but since has reduced the footprint of the expansion to 60 acres of actual landfill use.
“We [also] provided much larger buffers between our property line and the adjoining property lines,” Gibson added.
The plan for expansion does not exceed the current permitted height of the landfill, which is 1,050 feet. However, the authority still would need Campbell County to approve a rezoning permit for the Bennett property.
The projected cost of service for the landfill expansion option is $31 per ton for members.
Gibson said the last option discussed during public engagement is to build a facility that converts waste to energy. However, these facilities are expensive to operate and build based on research conducted by authority staff. The projected cost of service for a waste-to-energy facility is $100 per ton.
Gibson also proposed two additional options identified after the public input period — “Greenfield” and installation of a coal ash berm on the current landfill.
In the “Greenfield” option, the authority would purchase an open tract of land of at least 500 acres to build a new landfill. Gibson said the new site must be within 5 miles of Lynchburg to be sustainable based on customer feedback. The projected cost of service for this option is $45 per ton.
The coal ash berm is a collar built around the current landfill that allows for increased capacity in the wedge between the berm and the side of the landfill. Gibson said preliminary analysis projects eight to 10 years of additional life at the current landfill site if the berm is installed. He was unable to provide projected costs in this week’s meeting because the authority is waiting on approval of a $45,000 feasibility study for the proposal.
Rogers told supervisors he wanted to get their feedback on the option before spending authority money on the feasibility study.
The working group used a matrix of four goals and criteria — waste reduction, a flexible system, being responsible to the region and minimizing local impacts to the community — to rank the options. The goal with the highest priority based on all that feedback was determined to be reducing waste followed by establishing a flexible system, responsibility to the region and minimizing impact to the local community.
The Campbell County Board of Supervisors will continue to discuss possible options for solid waste removal in upcoming meetings before making a decision on the county’s recommendation to the authority board later this year.