Cherokee County landfill closure set for May or June

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November 24, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Tue Nov 24, 2009, 06:50 PM CST

By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

COLUMBUS, Kan. — The Republic Services landfill north of Columbus will close in May or June of 2010, a company representative told a group of local officials Tuesday.

“It has eight to 10 months of useful life yet before it gets to capacity,” said Jeff Kintzle, area president for the company. He made his remarks at a meeting of the Cherokee County Local Environmental Protection Program and the Cherokee County Solid Waste Advisory Committee. The meeting was held at the Cherokee County Health Department office.

The landfill is known as the Wheatland Landfill.

When local officials initially were notified about the closing, the landfill was expected to close by the end of this year. The landfill has been in operation in one form or another since at least 1975.

The company’s plan after the closure is to haul the county’s trash to a transfer station in Galena and transport it from there to a landfill near Lamar, Mo.

Kintzle said that after the landfill closes, the fee charged to the county at the transfer station in Galena will be tied to the Consumer Price Index. He said the transfer station will remain in operation at least until 2018.

“The rate you’ve got at the transfer station is the lowest rate I’ve seen at any of our transfer stations,” he said.

After closure, the landfill will be capped. The company would continue to monitor the site for 30 years.

Pete Forst, manager of the landfill, said the county generates 15 to 25 tons of waste daily.

Responding to questions about establishing a recycling program, Kintzle said it isn’t feasible, based on the volume of trash generated in the county. He said such a program would have to be done on a regional basis.

“It is part of our long-term plan for the area,” he said. “It’s what we want to do.”

Kintzle also was asked about uses for the methane produced by the landfill.

“It’s very expensive to process into something you can use,” Forst said.

Kintzle said Lamar plans to use methane from the landfill near the town as a fuel source to generate electricity.

Carl Hayes, chairman of the Cherokee County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, said he would like to use the methane as a fuel source for county vehicles.

Kintzle said he would provide Hayes with monthly updates on the planned landfill closure date.

Recycling

Carl Hayes, chairman of the Cherokee County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, said he has developed a proposal for a recycling program in cooperation with Southeast Kansas Recycling in Pittsburg. He said the landfill closure provides a good opportunity for people to re-evaluate their consumption habits.

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Cherokee County landfill closure set for May or June

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

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