SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT BOARD OF ALLEGANY COUNTY

Transcription

1 SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT BOARD OF ALLEGANY COUNTY Meeting Minutes July 6, 2016 at 3:00 pm Room 100, Allegany County Office Complex, 701 Kelly Rd, Cumberland, MD Members Present: Members Absent: Guests Present: Next meeting: Steve Young, Woody Getz, John Wardzinski, Steven Guinn, Paul High and Siera Wigfield Steve Miller, Brian Dicken, Raquel Ketterman, Ron Hawk, Tina Llewellyn, Julie Kennel, Agnes Yount, Stuart Czapski, Robert Boyce, Wally High, Larry Stouffer, and Larry Crossland Melanie Hunt, Megan Greist, and Dick Soderman August 3, 2016 at 3:00 pm at County Office Complex, 701 Kelly Road, Cumberland, MD Room Mountainview Landfill Tour John Wardzinski kindly rented a passenger van for the Mountainview Landfill tour, which started prior to the meeting. First the group drove by the Allegany County Refuse & Recycling Drop-off Area which is located as you enter the landfill gates. This area is run by Allegany County and provides a drop-off for refuse & bulk items for Allegany County residents only. The drop-off program is a Tag-a-Bag program where each 40-gallon bag currently requires a $0.75 sticker attached to the bag to dispose. The waste stickers are not sold at the site, there are various vendors for the stickers throughout the county, and the closest vendors are Rite Aid in Frostburg and Pick & Go in Midland. At this site there is free recycling of mixed cans, newspaper, magazines, office paper, sorted glass, cardboard, motor oil, and antifreeze. Plastic #1 & #2 it is one of two comprehensive drop off sites. The Mountainview Landfill, a Waste Management Company is the only privately operated landfill in Maryland. It is a Non-Hazardous Solid Waste Landfill, which means they accept only three types of waste: 1) municipal solid waste (household/commercial trash,) 2) construction and demolition waste, and 3) industrial residual material (the residuals must be tested by Waste Management to make sure they meet their requirements for nonhazardous materials before they are landfilled.) Along the road to the scale house for the landfill, there are two 700,000-gallon waste water storage tanks, containing acreage leachate (water that passes through the liner system) which is collected and trucked to one of the two Allegany County Operated Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP). The waste water is continually tested to make sure it is OK to process at the WWTP. The landfill keeps the large storage tanks mostly empty; typically, the landfill does not allow the water to get higher than 10-feet in the first storage tank. This would provide capacity if there were a large rain event or something happened at the WWTP where they could not accept the leachate for a period of time. Next to the storage tanks there is a wheel wash for trucks to wash off the dirt so it does not get on the road, it is not for removing contamination. 1 of 7

2 The scale house operators are trained to keep an eye out for hazardous materials and to direct the trucks to the appropriate area at the landfill. There is a convenience drop-off area for Allegany County, Garrett County, Pennsylvania, and/or West Virginia residents to drop-off items or hand unload items. This convenience area is safer for hand unloader than at the face of the landfill. On up the road is the landfill s Maintenance Facility and the Gas Flare. As the items in the landfill decompose methane is produced and through a series of pumps the methane is brought to the flare, about 50% of the gas is methane. The landfill is comprised of a liner system that made of 7 man-made layers. The top and bottom layers are 1/8 thick high density polyethylene (HDPE). Each cell of the landfill is graded to drain to a sump, where the liquid is pumped into the leachate system to the waste water tanks. At the face of the landfill there is a compactor to compact the waste. At the end of each day the waste at the landfill is covered with an MDE approved tarp. When they have met their permitted elevation for waste the waste is covered with 2 feet of soil. Finally, when the landfill determines a cell is filled to the capacity and is ready to be closed, a synthetic HDPE cap will seal the waste in a dry tomb this will prevent any water from entering the waste. There is no cap on any cells at Mountainview at this time. Around the perimeter of the landfill there are 16 ground water monitoring wells to make sure there is no leachate in the ground water. A trip around the landfill via access roads shows the landfill 20-foot litter fence and a security fence. We also see where they get their soil cover from. John Wardzinski wanted to emphasize that Mountainview is not a dump. He is from Pennsylvania and in the late 1970 s before landfill regulation there were about 300 municipal dumps where residents would just dump whatever into a pit and often they would be burning either intention or by accident. Since the regulations, there are about 40 landfills in Pennsylvania. Each State is responsible for regulating landfills, and John oversees landfills in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. Meeting No quorum so minutes and agenda were not approved. Siera Wigfield requested to add Telephone Books to Old Business and Solid Waste Management Board 20 th Anniversary, Residential Refuse Brochure, Savers Event Opportunity, and Mulch Site Report to New Business. 2016/2017 Priorities Tag Fee Increase Siera Wigfield requested the Board Members and the Refuse Site Attendants to review the attached Residential Refuse Disposal Tag Brochure. Now is the time to make any changes to the bulk item fees or to state anything that would make the system easier for the residents and attendants. In addition to the brochure, Siera would like to make sure the site signage is consistent with brochures, also attached. Recycling Site Improvements Siera Wigfield informed the Board the Kelly Road Recycling Site was milled on June 17. Additional improvements such as grading for drainage and paving will happen in August by the County Roads Dept. Five 5-yard self-dumping hoppers were delivered before July 1, and 5 small recycling containers will be fabricated for cans, newspapers, and magazines. 2 of 7

3 Tire Collection No report this month. Cumberland Curbside Recycling Update Melanie Hunt reported that the totals for the second year of curbside recycling have not come in yet, to be reported next month. Recycling Drop-Off Sites Siera Wigfield looked into moving the LaVale Plaza Cardboard Recycling Trailer to the Grand China Buffet parking lot for a central LaVale recycling site. In Board minutes from October 2013: Terry Bennett reported that the property company at Lifetime Fitness, LaVale (Goodrich Management Corp.), denied a request to add additional recycling bins to this location; the existing bins may remain. Siera contacted owners at both sites and obtained a new Indemnity Agreement from Goodrich Management to allow recycling at the 1228 National Highway Site and the property owners at LaVale Plaza declined the cardboard recycling at their site due to insurance policies. So at the July 14, 2016 Commissioners Public Business meeting the change will be announced. A sign will be placed on the cardboard trailer to inform the public and a temporary sign will be placed at LaVale Plaza after the trailer is moved to discourage dumping. On August 29, 2016, the LaVale Central Site will be operational. See signs below. Recycling Bin Sale Siera Wigfield has reviewed the quotes Melanie Hunt requested for a recycling bin sale. There is an offer for 33-gallon disposable cardboard containers for $2.15 each Special Events Containers and 15-gallon bins for $7.25 each Condo and Apartment Building Owners. John Wardzinski suggested contacting Waste Management or Advanced Disposal to see if you can utilize their bulk buying ability. Woody Getz also suggested contacting Maryland Recycling Network for bulk bin purchase MRA No report this month. 3 of 7

4 Telephone Book Recycling Campaign new item to collect? Siera Wigfield was in touch with Cindy Aldrich with the Association of Directory Publisher and shared her findings about the telephone book collection decrease in telephone books collected. She mentioned there is a decline in directories in metropolitan areas but the rural areas they are still a used resource mail by older users/homeowners looking for services. Cindy referenced the directory opt-out program for all publishers: yellowpageoptout.com: Woody Getz suggested letting the students and pubic know about the opt-out program during the next telephone book campaign. Siera Wigfield is investigating collecting plastic film as the new item for school children. Attached is an information sheet: Electronics Recycling 2016 No report this month. Heritage Days 2016 Melanie Hunt reported Heritage Days was a great Success. Siera Wigfield joined Raquel Ketterman and Melanie at the tent. They had a game with blocks with various items and asked kids to put them in the proper receptacles a trash can, recycling bin, or a toilet. Raquel was trying to educate the public about not putting flushable wipes down the toilet. The Notify Me promotion with the computer giveaway enticed 74 new subscribers. The winner is Debbie Pustolski. Dick Soderman and other members of the Universalist Unitarian Fellowship (pictured) helped monitor the recycling at the event. They monitored the bins every hour for contamination and 15 bags of comingled recycling were collected. 4 of 7

5 Shred Event Woody Getz reported he has been in contact Dalton Wood who is researching if the Public Safety Parking lot in Frostburg will be an appropriate venue. Woody is hoping the event is in September with concerns that any later may have less favorable weather. Steve Guinn asked if it would be for Frostburg residents only. Siera Wigfield recalled the Cumberland shred vent was open to everyone but there was a limit on quantity. Also, participants were to contribute a non-perishable food item. CAP Glass Tour Siera Wigfield is in touch with Chris Koontz of CAP Glass to pick either Friday, August 19, 2016 or Tuesday, August 23, It sounds like it will be a small group for the tour. Guest Speakers Siera Wigfield confirmed Ferne Benson, owner of the local modern cloth diaper store Kebbie s Diaper Bag, will join us at our August 3, 2016 meeting to let us know about her business and some products she carries. New Business Garrett County Landfill Report Attached is a summary and PowerPoint with pictures from the tour. Woody Getz signed a thank you card on behalf of the Board for Dave Baker and Kim Madigan s time for the tour. Frostburg Annual Bulk Pick-up Report Woody Getz reports the following totals: TUESDAY - Route finished up around 11-11:30ish WEDNESDAY - Route finished up around 12-12:30ish THURSDAY - Route finished up around 12-12:30ish 5 of TONS TONS TONS TOTAL TONS SWMB 20 th Anniversary Siera Wigfield reminded the group the Board will be turning 20 this December. Woody Getz erroneously questioned the date of 1996, but looked it up and confirmed the Board began on December 19, Steve Young suggested recognizing the owners of satellite recycling sites. Siera Wigfield requested that at a minimum the Board get a proclamation from the Commissioners. Savers Siera Wigfield was contacted by Lisa Freeman of: o Savers (aka value Village and Unique Thrift stores) offers a new kind of opportunity --one that pays our nonprofit partners besides our schools and churches our county government recycling programs and other nonprofit recycling organizations for gently-used items you collect, including clothes, shoes, jewelry, accessories, linens and small household items. Your county can choose to receive the funds directly or further them along to another initiative or charity you may want to give back. Many of my recycling programs will offer the clothing/ household item drive in tandem with another recycling event such as paper shredding, however our drives work very well as a standalone too. This is a simple and unique method of raising much needed funds and is founded in community giving and Savers has already helped raise thousands of dollars for recycling programs across the country while providing a great resource for their county communities! Siera was unsure if the Board wanted to proceed since it has a partnership with the local Goodwill.

6 Melanie Hunt was interested in the flyers for the event she is planning for the new Mount Savage Community Playground. Mulch Site Report 2016 Siera Wigfield reported since Darrell Kitzmiller retired in April, there has not been a site attendant at the County Mulch site. The mulch was ground on June 29 and June 30 and there was nothing that broke the grinding machine. The loader operator reported there was some garbage in the yard waste and stumps. The most notable item was a hand crank car jack that made it through the grinder unscathed. The grinding took 10.5 hours. Grant County had two requests: 1) to change the sign at the site to have the wood chips in with brush and not the grass and leaves. Siera will call Asplundh and the County Roads of the change. 2) Grind only one time a year. Siera is reluctant to grind once every 12 months due to the area being swampy, perhaps we could try to grind every 9 months. We are only grinding for 10 hours and it is not worth the set up for Grant County to come for such a short time. Though this would cut costs on grinding. Committee Reports Reduce/Reuse Woody Getz found this interesting article where people are making edible spoons to reduce the plastic utensils thrown away: John Wardzinski mentioned the Waste Management Golf Tournament is a zero waste event, he wonders if they herd of it before. Steve Guinn chimed in and mentioned has been using tortilla chips as edible utensils for a while. E-cycling Task Force No report this month Education No report this month Landfill The Board would like to thank John Wardzinski for the very thorough and informative tour of the Mountainview Landfill, and for renting a passenger van for the tour. Construction Steve Young questioned if the Construction Waste Management Committee report is still merited. John Wardzinski mentioned there is not much C&D waste in Mountainview Landfill. Meeting Adjourned at 5:20 pm Minutes prepared by Siera Wigfield, Recycling Coordinator and reviewed by Woody Getz, Chair. 6 of 7

7 Mountainview Landfill - Maintenance Shop Mountainview Landfill View to County Drop off & Holding Tanks Mountainview Landfill Perimeter & Litter Fence Mountainview Landfill Face with Daily Tarp Cover Mountainview Landfill Water Storage Tanks Gas Flare Wheel Wash 7 of 7