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Before we trash the rural buffer …

Posted on February 9, 2012February 8, 2012 by Staff

The following is an op-ed submitted by the Justice United Environmental Team.

Thanks to our elected officials for recognizing that whatever we decide to do with our trash, dumping it on the Rogers Road community is no longer an option. The county landfill is closing in 2013. Our elected officials also agreed that a community center fulfills the promise made when the landfill was originally sited, although the details, including funding, remain up for discussion. Sewer may also be forthcoming, after a task force first determines the parameters for the community center.

It’s progress – good progress – but clarity is needed around commitment, dates and responsibilities. As community leaders, we will remain involved until this important work is done.

There’s still the question of what to do with our trash after the landfill closes. The towns have known for years that the landfill was at the end of its life and that the county was unable to find a suitable site for a transfer station. In early 2009, county leaders decided to truck their trash to a waste transfer station in Durham – a decision that they confirmed last year. It’s not an ideal solution, but it’s the only one that the county or its Solid Waste Advisory Board has been able to come up with.

At the last minute, Carrboro leaders began to lobby for a transfer station at the northwest corner of I-40 and N.C. 86. The site is not in the town’s jurisdiction. It is in the rural buffer, which was established more than 20 years ago to contain sprawl and to keep projects like this one out of the rural community.

The proposed site is close to the trash and it’s not in the Rogers Road community, but there are other challenges. It compromises the rural buffer with unwanted municipal development. There’s no water or sewer infrastructure to capture the runoff from the trucks and chemicals used to clean the facility. It’s adjacent to a residential area that relies on well water.

There are solutions to the issues with the site, but those solutions add cost and complexity to an otherwise straightforward project. The site may be worth a look, but there are better alternatives, and town officials appear to be poised to look at them.

Chapel Hill leaders plan to hire a consultant to look at options, a plan that we applaud given the issues involved in hauling their waste to Durham. They are not just looking at the next three to five years, but also at long-term options for converting waste to energy. They appear to have the ear of UNC, which has strong expertise in managing power plants and feedstocks.

In the short term, Chapel Hill may want to build a small transfer station of its own. The town has several good locations with water and sewer that are not in anyone’s backyard. These sites are adjacent to commercial and retail centers or part of upcoming development projects. If Chapel Hill works with UNC, the town can share the costs with the university and possibly use a utility site on the Carolina North campus. Carrboro has been invited to join them.
Together, the two towns and the university produce nearly 70 percent of the county’s trash.

Proven waste vendors like Republic and Waste Management are waiting in the wings to provide proposals for service. Such proposals are free and exploit the massive assets and experience of these companies.

Industry consensus is that a town transfer station would cost less than $3 million to build. With a five- to 10-year contract, vendors are likely to quote a tipping fee that’s lower than the current county landfill fees. There are many service models, including the option of using the transfer station to improve recycling and other waste services. Under-contract vendors can be required to provide living wages. They can even be rewarded for improving recycling rates.

The leading vendors manage large landfills and recycling centers as part of their service offering. By bundling services, they can offer deep discounts. The savings could be substantial and could even fund research into long-term solutions. That’s in addition to streamlining and simplifying our current waste-management system, which is 20 years old and designed around a landfill that is closing.

The issues are complex, and there are good options for the next few years. Our leaders appear poised to start with alternatives that are more promising than dumping our trash in the rural buffer.

Robert Campbell, Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association
David Caldwell, Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association
Stan Cheren, Orange County Voice
Tish Galu, Justice United
Bonnie Hauser, Orange County Voice
Stephanie Perry, Justice United

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