The Regional Disposal Co., owner and operator of the 2,128-acre landfill at Roosevelt, wants to increase the amount of municipal waste the site can accept.
That is a grand idea, with no visible drawbacks.
The landfill -- which opened in 1991 -- can accept a maximum of 159 million tons of trash under the current contract. If the expansion plan wins final approval, that would be boosted to 217 million tons.
This would be accomplished by reconfiguring the way waste is stored within the existing boundaries of the landfill. The plan would not enlarge the landfill beyond its current acreage. Thus, there is no net loss of land: no property would be moved from an existing use to accommodate an expanding landfill. This would simply be a way to get more efficiency out of an existing parcel, and that is to be applauded.
Further, the proposal would extend the life of the operating agreement. As now written, the contract expires no later than 2029, and the site would be closed after that. The new proposal would extend that closing date to 2041. Again, that makes good sense: There is no reason to close down a system that is working, and working well.
The Regional Landfill is a huge boost for Klickitat County. The fees municipalities pay to the county for the right to dump their garbage here are going to fund many improvements around the county, as the increasing list of upgrades to fire districts, parks, schools, and other facilities around the county proves.
Currently, Klickitat County has approximately $10.5 million in a cumulative reserve fund built from landfill receipts. An additional $2.1 million is channeling funds to major projects around the county, such as construction of the Dallesport wastewater treatment system.
And each year, the county's Economic Development Authority Board gathers to weigh requests from communities around the county, and the best proposals gain funding. (We don't agree with the county's recent efforts to try to restrict which communities can apply for funds, but that's another story.) This year, the county is setting aside $350,000 for the various comunity projects.
Presumably, if the intake of trash increases, the amount of funding available for local projects would also be increased, although it's too early to know for sure how that would play out.
A side benefit of the landfill is the production of methane gas, which provides an innovative source of energy for the Klickitat Public Utility District. More trash would equal more methane gas, easing energy demand and perhaps helping to keep electricity rates a bit lower than elsewhere.
In a time when good jobs are getting scarcer, the Regional Disposal Co. now employs 170 full-time workers, which includes operators on the site and truck drivers. The site is also served by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which requires (currently) two trains a day. Of course, that means several train crews are also kept busy.
With expansion, there would probably be a significant increase in the number of landfill employees, and BNSF anticipates that at least one more train per day would be required to handle the load.
The pluses of the landfill are many. Keeping it open longer, and expanding its capacity, are common sense suggestions.
This is a solid plan that deserves to be ratified without unnecessary delay.
JB
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