County considers increasing landfill fees
The state trust fund addressing pollution problems at closed landfills has fallen below the threshold that triggers a fee increase for landfill owners, requiring the county to pass on the increase to users of the Cedar Glades Landfill.
The Garland County Quorum Court will consider an ordinance Monday night raising landfill fees in accordance with the $1-per-ton increase the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality began assessing landfills July 1. Under the county’s proposed fee schedule, charges for 11-, 22- and 48yard commercial containers will increase $3, $6 and $13, respectively.
Class 1 waste fees would increase from $34 to
$35 per ton, and Class 4 from $24 to $25. The $10 minimum charge would remain in effect. The county’s landfill is permitted for Class 4 waste,
or construction demolition and debris, only. The household garbage it collects is transported to Waste Management’s Two Pine Landfill in North Little Rock.
Garland County Environmental Services Director Paul Thompson said the fee increase won’t be passed on to haulers the county contracts for residential garbage collection. He said the rate increases on commercial containers and landfill drop-offs will generate more than $80,000 a year, but it won’t entirely offset the state mandate.
County officials said the solid-waste fund will have to account for the difference.
“Garland County is not going to be making any money on this,” District 12 Justice of the Peace Darryl Mahoney, chairman of the Environmental Services, Public Works and Building Committee of the quorum court, told JPs last month.
“We’re just trying as best we can to pass along what we’ve been handed down,” he said.
“We’re not actually recovering all the money. We’re taking it on the chin somewhat.”
The Arkansas Department of Environment Quality raised the fee it charges landfills from $1.50 per ton to $2.50 after the state’s post-closure trust fund balance fell below $15 million. State law requires the fee increase if the balance falls below that threshold.
County officials said it was triggered by the North Arkansas Board of Regional Sanitation landfill, or NABORS landfill, in Baxter County. The state’s been operating it since 2014.
The NABORS board defaulted in 2012 on the bond issue that financed its purchase of the landfill. Money the board set aside to close the landfill has had to be used to keep water from leaching into the ground.
The county’s Cedar Glades Landfill has moved into the second cell of its Phase 2 footprint. The landfill was designed for five 12-cell phases when it opened in 2000. Thompson said it can absorb Class 4 waste for 100 more years.