Wednesday, 12 May 2010 03:02

Supes Approve Post-Closure Maintenance Costs For Buena Vista Landfill

slide2-supes_approve_post-closure_maintenance_costs_for_buena_vista_landfill.pngAmador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors discussed and approved Tuesday a resolution for financial assurance for post-closure maintenance of the Buena Vista landfill. Kristin Bengyel, previous Interim Transportation Director and Public Works Director, said the action was necessary in order to “meet the State requirements for Certification of Completion of the corrective action for the Buena Vista Landfill.” The resolution states that California Code requires “operators of solid waste landfills to demonstrate the availability of financial resources to conduct closure, post-closure maintenance, and corrective action activities.” In other words, said Bengyel, this guarantees “that there is always enough money being set aside…for unforeseen future costs.” Board Chairman Brian Oneto asked if this means the County is “still on the hook if something shows up 100 years down the road,” referring to environmental costs. Mike Israel, Amador County Environmental Health Director, said any landowner would be responsible for costs related to their property. Bengyel said the County would have to set aside as much as $210,000 a year out of the General Fund over a 30-year period, but that was the “worst-case scenario.” The closure process began last year after the County determined that it would be environmentally beneficial and cost-effective to contract out for landfill services and transport local waste elsewhere, including to the 250-acre Kiefer landfill in Sacramento. The closure process was officially completed in January, but Bengyel said the site will continue to change over time, resulting in the release of methane gas. She said it takes roughly 25 years for a landfill to settle, and the site can drop as much as 8 feet during that time. The Supervisors unanimously approved a motion to approve the resolution and to set aside the requested amount of approximately $200,000 a year out of the General Fund for future, unforeseen costs. The Board required changes be made to the resolution verbiage to replace “Chief Engineer” with “Landfill Operator” as the future overseer of the site because the county does not currently have a Chief Engineer on staff. Supervisor John Plasse said the Landfill Operator will either be the County as a whole or the responsibility of the Local Enforcement Agency through the Environmental Health Department. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.