Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
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Municipalities in Delaware County will see a change when they open up their solid waste bills this month, and that’s related to the county only having four years of trash-holding capacity left and the need to prepare for the future.
Delaware County Solid Waste Authority Chairman Mario Civera explained the need for the $20-aton rate hike in a letter sent to all 49 municipalities last August.
“In order for the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority (DCSWA) to continue to serve the residents of Delaware County by disposing of the municipal trash generated in the county, it has become necessary once again to upgrade our facilities and to expand our landfill,” Civera wrote about the authority looking to expand the Rolling Hills landfill in Berks County to handle 10 years’ worth of trash.
“This upgrade and expansion program makes it necessary to increase the Waste Management and Recycling Fee ... to $53 per ton effective Jan. 1, 2019,” he continued. “The DCSWA last increased its fees in January of 2012.”
News that the fee would increase from a base of $33 to $53 has been coming for some time.
In December 2017, Joseph Vasturia, CEO and board chairman of the authority, sent another letter to municipalities warning them of the 2019 increase.
The authority also offered municipalities a $5-per-ton discount for those who would take their trash directly to the Covanta Resource Recovery Facility in Chester, rather than the transfer stations.
Without it, and the associated expansion of the landfill receiving tons from Delaware County, the challenge of what to do with the county’s waste would be difficult, especially with the anticipated four years of landfill capacity left.
Here’s a look at how the county arrived at this situation.
In 1954, the county created the Delaware County Incinerator Authority to oversee three incinerators that operated here from the late 1950s through 1979, when they closed.
Two of them were transformed into transfer stations, one in Chester Township and another in Marple, where about 500,000 tons of commercial and residential trash were accepted annually to be trucked to landfills outside the county.
In 1984, the county had the opportunity to purchase the former Colebrookdale Landfill in Earl Township, Berks County, and county council directed the incinerator authority to do so. Even prior to this purchase, the county had been sending most of its trash to Colebrookdale for disposal.
A year later, in 1985, the sale was completed and the authority was renamed to the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority. In 1998, the landfill was also renamed to the Rolling Hills Landfill.
In 1992, the Resource Recovery Facility was opened off Highland Street in Chester as a way to divert the county’s – and others’, such as New York City’s – trash to the facility to burn to create electricity. At first, it was owned and operated by Westinghouse Corp., then American RefFuel and finally, by Covanta, which acquired it in June 2005.
This incinerator is Covanta’s largest energy-fromwaste facility and processes approximately 1.3 million tons of municipal solid waste each year. Here, a 90-megawatt turbogenerator takes steam created from boilers to create more than 645,000 MWh a year, or enough energy to power more than 70,000 homes. In addition, more than 60,000 tons of steel and aluminum are recycled.
When this incinerator opened, trash was diverted from the two transfer stations to the incinerator, where it was burned. Some municipalities transport their trash directly to the incinerator and receive a $5-per-ton discount for doing so.
After the trash is burned in Chester, the resulting ash still needs to be removed, and that’s where the Rolling Hills landfill is needed.
Vasturia explained that about 400,000 tons of Delaware County’s commercial and residential trash is burned at the Covanta facility and then the ash residue is then shipped to the Berks County landfill.
The problem is, the landfill is slowly getting close to capacity.
In 1990, the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority expanded the Earl Township facility to a maximum height of 884 feet, which is anticipated to be reached in four years.
As a result, the authority filed an application to expand it both laterally and vertically by 14.9 million cubic yards, which was believed to have been able to add 17 years of capacity. Landfill permit application reviews usually take state officials about two years to complete, officials said.
The Solid Waste Authority is now looking at a smaller expansion that would increase capacity to 10 years.
At public hearings in Berks County in the summer, opposition was voiced regarding concerns of heavy truck traffic driving through Boyertown and on the potential impacts an expansion could have on downtown revitalization efforts based on historic tourism and walkable areas.
However, an analysis completed by the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority determined that a landfill expansion would have a “status quo” effect.
The landfill operators have also provided revenue for Earl Township and Berks County, as well as the state. About $60 million in tipping fees have gone towards Earl Township, which has used it to alleviate property taxes and for open space. Within the last year, approximately $4.5 million has been sent to Berks County, Earl Township and the state from the landfill.
Here, in Delaware County, it’s a question of what to do with the trash and ash.
After the Berks County public hearings were held, the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority withdrew its application for the 17year capacity expansion and resubmitted a new one to the state Department of Environmental Protection that would increase the landfill’s capacity by 10 years.
DEP officials are currently conducting the environmental assessment review for this new application and a public meeting, which has not yet been set, will be scheduled for the near future.
In the meantime, authority officials are encouraging municipalities to reduce their own costs by hauling their trash directly to the Covanta facility in Chester. Doing so would save them $5 a ton.
In the meantime, authority officials proceed with the landfill expansion through the permitting process and through raising the funds needed for it.
“The DCSWA is looking for ways to reduce this proposed increase, and at the same time, complement our capital reserve,” Vasturia wrote in a letter to municipalities. “We ask the cooperation of the Delaware County municipalities to assist us in our goal ... Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated.”