Modesto Bee

Tuesday, July 9, 2002

See Also:

7/9/02 Modesto, CA: Stanislaus County Residents & Greenaction Press Conference in Modesto Challenges Giant Dump Proposal: read the Press Release and Background Info in Fight Against Proposed Giant Garbage and Sewage Sludge Dump

For more information, contact:

Bradley Angel Greenaction

(415) 248-5010

Critics raise stink over landfill plan

By MELANIE TURNER
BEE STAFF WRITER

West Side activists and Modesto officials say the county's plan to almost quadruple the size of the Fink Road Landfill is a shortsighted proposal that would flood the county with other communities' garbage.

Modesto officials believe the county's proposal would undermine recycling efforts and spend money on something local communities don't need. The $236 million could be better spent on something such as a plant that converts garbage into ethanol, a fuel additive that can be used to help run a power plant, said Jocelyn Reed, solid waste manager for Modesto. "It flies in the face of everything the city of Modesto has done to date to reduce and recover waste," Reed said about the proposed expansion.

The plan calls for the landfill to grow from its current 219 acres to 831 acres in 55 years. The landfill would operate 24 hours a day and could accept up to 6,500 tons of waste a day. In the next month and a half, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors is expected to consider certifying the project's draft environmental report, launching the massive expansion. No date has been set. If the county gets its permit from the state, the dump along Interstate 5, about 20 miles southwest of Modesto near Crows Landing, could grow to occupy a space more than one square mile and 650 feet high.

While the legal period to comment on the document ended Jan. 17, opposition continues to surface. A City Council committee Monday considered a recommendation to oppose the project. Early today, West Side activists plan to protest at Tenth Street Place. And City Councilman Denny Jackman, also chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Recycling, urged the council to oppose the expansion in a letter dated June 26. The letter cites the fact that most of the garbage -- 99 percent of it -- would come from outside Stanislaus County. "Our garbage ratepayers are in effect subsidizing ineffective waste reduction efforts in other communities and allowing them to opt out of finding their own solutions to their disposal problems," Jackman wrote.

Some people living on the West Side say they are tired of being dumped on. "We don't want it. It's not healthy. It doesn't make good business sense," said John Mataka, a Grayson resident. "We're already known as the waste tire capital of the world. Why do we want to be known as the garbage mountain of the world?"

County public works Director George Stillman acknowledged that the county does not need a landfill as big as the one proposed. But he added that the money a large landfill would generate, from other communities that pay to dump there, could pay for needed services, such as sheriff's deputies and road repairs. Revenue from the landfill also ultimately would lower the cost of local garbage service, he added. Reed, on the other hand, said the proposal is shortsighted. She hopes landfills will be a thing of the past in 50 years. She also said a large landfill would provide a disincentive to recycle since it costs more than dumping garbage. Added Mataka: "It's really not necessary. We already have a minimum of 42 years of capacity just taking care of our own garbage issues."

Reed and Mataka agree that a mega-landfill is not needed. Just 10 years ago, the county and city of Modesto invested $100 million in the waste-to-energy plant to reduce the community's dependence on landfills. "If you're going to go out and build a landfill that takes 6,000 tons a day, you're contradicting your adopted policy of not putting it in landfills," Reed said. As the California Integrated Waste Management Board talks about moving toward "zero waste," it would make more sense to pursue some alternative, she said. But Stillman said the landfill is running out of space sooner than people might think. The draft environmental report states that at current disposal rates, the landfill has a life span of approximately 41 years. Stillman believes another consultant's estimate of 12 years is more accurate. "Estimating the remaining life is more an art than it is a science," he said. Planning and construction could take eight to 12 years so the county wants to get moving on an expansion, he said. And Stillman disagrees that landfills could ever be phased out. "Not everything can be burned," he said. "Not everything can be recycled."