Annual Report 2004
Southern Idaho Solid Waste
Our Mission The Southern Idaho Solid Waste system is based on four operating principles: ♦
Environmentally sound solid waste management
♦
Cost effectiveness
♦
Citizen participation
♦
Opportunities to reduce, recycle and reuse
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ......................................................... 1 Board of Directors............................................................ 2 Administration ................................................................ 3 Solid Waste Transfer Stations .............................................. 4 Accomplishments in 2004.................................................. 5 What’s Ahead in 2005 ........................................................ 6 Public Information and Education Programs ........................ 7 Blaine County Resource Recovery Center ............................ 8 Financial Summary.......................................................... 9 Solid Waste Disposal Volumes & Costs by County .................. 10 Annual Expenditures by County......................................... 11 Recycling and Waste Diversion Report................................ 12
Executive Summary Page 1
Southern Idaho Solid Waste celebrated 10 years of operations in 2004. The gates at Milner Butte Landfill and five major transfer stations officially swung open on April 7, 1994. That opening was the culmination of four years of planning, site selection, obtaining permits from federal, state and local agencies, and finding financing for $16 million of construction. The current system has evolved into much more than was originally envisioned. In 1994, Southern Idaho Solid Waste consisted of a regional landfill and six transfer stations serving the district’s six owner-counties. Today, seven counties own the system, and we provide solid waste transfer and disposal services to all or parts of four neighboring counties. The programs and services offered by SISW have evolved as well. Some of our accomplishments would include: ♦
Closing and capping 18 old landfills in the region
♦
Creating a recycling program that includes: ♦
30 rural recycling drop-off sites
♦
Operation of the Blaine County Recycling Center
♦
Distributing more than 6,000 backyard composting bins
♦
Developing environmentally sound management programs for problem wastes such as asbestos, petroleum contaminated soils and wastewater treatment sludges, and household hazardous wastes
♦
Creating a variety of public education programs to promote recycling, waste reduction, composting, and buying recycled products
♦
Winning SWANA’s Gold Award for Integrated Solid Waste Management Programs and the Bronze Award for Rural Recycling Programs in 1999
The accomplishments of the past 10 years is OK. What’s impressive is that these programs and services were added without sacrificing cost efficiency. While the consumer price index has risen more than 38% over the past decade, solid waste management costs per ton for five of the seven owner-counties have decreased: 43% in Lincoln County, 32% in Twin Falls County, 11% in Cassia and Jerome Counties, and 7% in Gooding County. In Blaine and Minidoka Counties, cost increases have been a mere 1% and 2%, respectively. At a time when costs for most utilities have increased each year, our solid waste program is a good deal.
Board of Directors Page 2
Southern Idaho Solid Waste is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of one Commissioner from each owner-county. The Board of Directors meets on a monthly basis. Minutes from these meetings are available on request. SISW’s current (2004) governing commissioners are:
Blaine County Dennis Wright 200 1st Avenue South Hailey, ID 83333 208-788-5500
Cassia County Clay Handy PO Box 876 Burley, ID 83318 208-438-5071 ext. 24
Gooding County Carolyn Elexpuru PO Box 466 Gooding, ID 83330 208-934-8355
Jerome County Veronica Lierman 35 South 150 West Jerome, ID 83338 208-324-4206
Lincoln County Jerry Nance 814 Highway 24 Dietrich, ID 83324 208-544-2480
Minidoka County Dan Stapelman 60 North 850 West Paul, ID 83347 208-438-5894
Twin Falls County Gary Grindstaff PO Box 126 Twin Falls, ID 83303 208-736-4068
Administration Page 3
The daily operation of Southern Idaho Solid Waste is administered by a professional staff, headquartered at the Milner Butte Landfill. The current administrative staff includes:
Terry Schultz Executive Director Stephanie Thompson Administrative Assistant Tom Miller Facilities Engineer Pat Tudor Project Supervisor
The administrative staff may be contacted at the Milner Butte Landfill at the address and phone numbers below.
Southern Idaho Solid Waste 1050 West 400 South PO Box 159 Burley, ID 83318 Phone: 208-432-9082 Fax: 208-432-6915 www.sisw.org
Solid Waste Transfer Stations Page 4
Blaine County Ohio Gulch Transfer Station 110 Ohio Gulch Road Phone: 208-788-2351 Manager: Daniel Krenz Carey Transfer Station 1675 South 1800 East Phone: 208-823-4308 Manager: Gary Jacobowsky West Magic Transfer Station West Magic Road Manager: Don Farnes
Cassia County Albion Transfer Station 760 South Highway 77 Phone: 208-673-6610 Manager: Pat Asher Almo Transfer Station 2480 South Elba-Almo Road Phone: 208-638-5565 Manger: Harold Durfee Malta Transfer Station 2450 East 1760 South Phone: 208-645-2675 Manager: Christie Donald Oakley Transfer Station 985 South Worthington Phone: 208-677-7848 Manager: Earl Taylor
Gooding County Wendell Transfer Station 2743 Highway 46 Phone: 208-536-2181 Manager: Gilbert Belasquez
Jerome County The Gap Transfer Station 1178 Highway 25 Phone: 208-825-5421 Manager: Rick Erickson
Lincoln County Shoshone Transfer Station 120 North Highway 75 Phone: 208-420-5421 Manager: Todd Bollar
Minidoka County Minidoka Transfer Station 325 North 400 West Phone: 208-438-5593 Manager: Scott Tyler
Twin Falls County Hub Butte Waste Disposal Site 2900 North 2800 East Phone: 208-734-5271 Manager: Rocky Dedman Twin Falls Transfer Station 2186 Orchard Drive East Phone: 208-734-3139 Manager: Larry McCaslin West End Transfer Station 4200 North 900 East—Buhl Phone: 208-543-4054 Manager: Ron Crosby
Accomplishments in 2004 Page 5
West Magic Transfer Station Opens Following a lengthy permitting process in Camas County, Southern Idaho Solid Waste began site work in mid-September. During construction, educational sessions were held to alert area residents to coming changes in disposal practices. The site opened to the public in mid-December, with Don Farnes hired as manager. Plans are underway to provide recycling and a spring clean up event. Blaine County Commissioner Mary Ann Mix was instrumental in the completion of this project.
Solid Waste Agreements Extended Solid waste service contracts with Power County and Timberline Trash (the solid waste contractor for Camas County) were restructured in 2004. Southern Idaho Solid Waste was able to offer significant reductions in disposal fees due to savings achieved through debt reduction and “economies of scale.” Elko County awarded SISW a bid for solid waste transport and disposal in December, pending contract stipulations. SISW also began solid waste service discussions with the rural Grouse Creek area in northwestern Utah.
Household Hazardous Waste Program Growth Twice as many people participated in the HHW program in 2004 as compared to 2003. Motor oil collection increased 45% this year to a total of 6,184 gallons. 2,398 lead acid auto batteries and 2,494 gallons of flammable liquids were also collected, which amounted to a 45% increase for each of these materials. Paints and toxic household chemicals saw a 127% increase (2,345 gallons total) over the previous year. Freon removal from refrigeration units (1,487) and antifreeze collection (83 gal.) remained about the same as last year.
Ground Wood Mulch For the second year, SISW produced over 35,000 cubic yards of wood mulch from wood wastes collected at 9 sites. In addition to supplying mulch to our “repeat customers” of feedlots, dairies, and commercial composters and landscapers, markets were developed with Bald Mountain Excavation for a startup composting operation, and with MWP, a Rexburg company that markets a variety of organics. Discussions have also been initiated with a treasure valley company to use the mulch as a fuel source in an electrical co-generation plant.
What’s Ahead in 2005 Page 6
Smiley Creek Transfer Station In late summer, two potential sites for a new solid waste transfer station were evaluated by the US Forest Service, Sawtooth National Recreation Area, and Southern Idaho Solid Waste. After review, a primary site was selected for a new transfer station that will better serve the needs of Smiley Creek community residents. Blaine County has set aside funds to develop this site. Design and permitting work is scheduled for early 2005, with construction activities expected to begin mid-summer. If all goes according to plan, the new transfer station will be operational by Fall, 2005.
Promoting a Safe Working Environment Working in solid waste environments poses an elevated risk to our employees, due to the nature of the materials handled and the heavy equipment used to process the solid waste. While the current SISW risk rating assigned by the Idaho Insurance Fund is slightly better than state and federal ratings for most solid waste operations, it is lower than the ratings this organization has received in prior years. Therefore, the current worker safety programs will be evaluated for effectiveness. The frequency of safety inspections of SISW facilities and equipment will be increased. Safety policies will need to be developed to create positive incentives to promote safe work habits.
Public Information and Education Programs Page 7
Public Education Coordinator: Robin Baumgartner website: www.sisw.org 2004 was a year of new partnerships for SISW’s public information and education programs. During the first part of the year, SISW was contacted by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality’s Twin Falls regional office. The DEQ was in the process of helping local communities draft and implement water quality plans and asked SISW to attend several meetings with these communities to talk about household hazardous wastes and how proper disposal methods can help to protect groundwater resources. Another new partnership was formed in April, when SISW partnered with Dex Media to place collection boxes for phone book recycling at each of SISW’s transfer stations. The program was a success for its first year, with more than four full pickup loads of phone books collected for recycling. New papermaking equipment was purchased in 2004. Papermaking activities, accompanied by presentations about recycling, were well received by boy scout troops and a local preschool. In addition to the papermaking classes, classroom presentations were given on topics ranging from smart shopping (waste reduction through choosing less packaging and less toxic alternatives) to basic recycling issues, and numerous groups toured the Milner Butte Landfill to learn more about where their trash goes once the garbage truck picks it up. The opening of the new West Magic Transfer Station was also a highlight of 2004. Meetings were held with local residents, and flyers were developed to inform people of the changes that were coming. Additional educational outreach will be needed in 2005, when the rural recycling program is extended into the West Magic community. Along with these new activities, we continued our focus on public outreach during 2004. Informational booths were set up at two local home and garden shows and three county fairs to distribute information on SISW’s programs and services. A number of presentations were also given to civic groups throughout SISW’s seven ownercounties. Public response to these outreach activities has been positive, and awareness of SISW’s mission and role in solid waste management appears to be increasing. Website development and re-design continued throughout 2004. One highlight of this activity is the new and improved Southern Idaho Waste Exchange. This service allows businesses and residents to post their unwanted but still usable items online. The redesign of this section of the website has made it much more user-friendly, and we hope will encourage more people to use the exchange. As we head into 2005, we look forward to continuing these existing programs and services, and to seeking new opportunities for public outreach.
Blaine County Resource Recovery Center Page 8
Brett Gelskey, Manager Blaine County Resource Recovery Center phone: 208-788-0880 In 2004, 2,192 tons of materials were recycled through the Blaine County Resource Recovery Center. This amounts to a 98 ton, or 4% increase over 2003 volumes. Much of this increased volume came from cardboard, which saw a 10% increase over the previous year. While the increased cardboard volume was a positive sign, volumes for newspapers and aluminum cans declined. These volume decreases are important to note, since cardboard, newspapers and aluminum generally provide the most stable market value and tend to be revenue centers for the BCRRC. Net expenses once again outpaced revenues this year, despite the increased volume. Increases in freight costs due to record fuel prices and volume increases in commodities with little to no market value but high processing costs contributed to the revenue shortfall. The silver lining in this equation is that this year’s deficit was significantly smaller than last ($3,687.93 total, compared to $26,831 last year). Contamination continues to be a problem at the recycling center, especially with plastics. Limited space in the curbside collection trucks, combined with demand for increasing the number of commodities picked up by those trucks has led to aboveacceptable amounts of broken glass mixed into the plastic collected curbside. Because of this situation, employees at the BCRRC are put at increased risk of injury from sorting glass shards from plastic, or, in extreme cases, are forced to take the contaminated plastic to the transfer station for disposal. The third year of computer recycling was undertaken as part of Blaine County’s annual spring cleanup project. Nearly 4 tons of computers, monitors, printers and other peripherals were recycled as part of this program. The cost of this program (not counting BCRRC staff time or advertising costs) was $4,672.60, or $1,262.86 per ton.
Financial Summary Page 9
The high price of fuel was the only negative financial factor affecting Southern Idaho Solid Waste in 2004. Operation of the landfill and waste transfer system consumes at least 180,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year. The cost of fuel jumped as much as $1 per gallon (an 85% increase over last year’s prices), and solid waste volumes for SISW’s seven owner counties increased 7,907 tons over the previous year, which made rising fuel costs a significant factor in SISW’s overall cost of operations. Nevertheless, Southern Idaho Solid Waste was able to weather the high fuel cost storm. In each of the seven owner counties, the cost per ton, or the basic unit of cost measurement for solid waste programs, decreased. The cost per ton of the solid waste system as a whole went down nearly $1 per ton, which represents a savings of 3%. This savings despite the significant increases in fuel prices was achieved through the following activities. First, the 1993 Certificates of Participation were refinanced in early 2004 to take advantage of historically low interest rates. This refinancing freed up some dedicated reserve funds, and allowed SISW to pay down an additional $950,000 in short-term equipment lease debt. In addition, Southern Idaho Solid Waste was able to hold the line on landfill operation costs in 2004. This, combined with higher than expected revenues from scrap metal and ground wood mulch sales allowed SISW to absorb the large fuel price increase. Scrap metal prices were the best that we’ve seen in several years, and two new markets for wood mulch were instrumental in making up for additional fuel expenses.
Solid Waste Disposal Volumes & Costs by County Page 10
County
Population
Waste Volume 2003 (tons)
Recycling/ Diversion Rate
Overall Cost Per Ton
Blaine
20,378
35,199
43%
$49.69
Cassia
21,720
18,645
15%
$29.25
Gooding
14,307
12,729
20%
$36.73
Jerome
18,703
16,410
16%
$36.54
Lincoln
4,207
3,178
47%
$54.14
Minidoka
19,465
15,734
23%
$35.88
Twin Falls
65,472
65,750
7%
$29.55
164,252
167,645
21%
$36.02
Totals
Solid Waste Volumes by County Blaine Cassia
21% 39%
Gooding 11%
8% 9%
10% 2%
Jerome Lincoln Minidoka Twin Falls
Annual Expenditures Page 11
Annual Expenditures by County Blaine Cassia 29%
32%
Gooding Jerome 9%
Lincoln
9% 10%
8%
Minidoka
3%
County
Landfill Costs
Twin Falls
Transfer System Costs
Landfill Closure
Resource Recovery
Total
Blaine
$563,433
$1,202,090
$55,045
$53,260
$1,813,828
Cassia
$273,199
$211,910
$66,388
$11,100
$562,597
Gooding
$185,043
$281,311
$12,645
$13,250
$492,249
Jerome
$239,096
$358,219
$10,972
$12,930
$621,217
Lincoln
$45,136
$127,150
$14,505
$2,700
$189,491
Minidoka
$229,541
$309,829
$26,407
$12,040
$577,817
Twin Falls
$963,282
$1,080,280
$0
$25,400
$2,068,962
$2,438,730
$3,570,789
$185,962
$130,680
$6,326,112
Totals
Recycling and Waste Diversion Report Page 12
In 2004, Southern Idaho Solid Waste’s seven owner-counties achieved a 21% waste diversion rate. This was realized through a variety of recycling programs as well as diversion of construction and demolition (C&D) waste to inert disposal sites. A countyby-county breakdown of the volumes recycled or diverted is shown in the following table.
County
Recycling Projects
Blaine
2,196 tons*
Scrap Metal
Wood Mulch
482 tons
7,185 tons
C&D
Tire
Diversion
Recycling
5,553 tons
25 tons
(16,905 cy) Cassia
3 tons**
122 tons
683 tons
107 tons
300 tons
1,394 tons
2,098 tons
74 tons
106 tons
2,003 tons
849 tons
27 tons
40 tons
821 tons
490 tons
152 tons
229 tons
832 tons
624 tons
156 tons***
Totals
2,715 tons
178 tons
996 tons
2,415 tons
13,914 tons (35,359 cy)
15%
13 tons
2,663
20%
21 tons
2,694
16%
12 tons
1,524
47%
16 tons
3,644
23%
4,738
7%
33,636
21%
(1,310 tires) 3,361 tons
(3,065 cy) 1,457 tons
2,932
(987 tires)
(2,560 cy) Twin Falls
26 tons
(1,682 tires)
(2,525 cy) Minidoka
43%
(996 tires)
(4,290 cy) Lincoln
15,441
Rate
(2,043 tires)
(3,914 cy) Jerome
Diversion
(1,955 tires)
(2,100 cy) Gooding
Total (tons)
47 tons (3,777 tires)
15,390 tons
160 tons (12,750 tires)
* Includes 3.7 tons from computer recycling project ** Does not include Santos Recycling container volumes *** Does not include commercial hauler cardboard volumes
T
he Southern Idaho Regional Solid Waste District (SISW) is a special purpose unit of local government whose sole mission is managing solid wastes for nine south-central Idaho counties and the northern parts of Elko County, Nevada and Box Elder County, Utah. Our system features a state-of-the-art landfill that not only meets, but exceeds regulatory standards, 13 transfer stations, a waste transport system, a wide range of rural recycling opportunities, an effective waste diversion system, a public information and education network, and a safe and environmentally sound waste management system for problem wastes (i.e. petroleum contaminated soils, household hazardous wastes and liquid wastes).
This document is printed on recycled paper.