Election Topic - the Economics of a Landfill, the Importance of Avoiding Conflict of Interest, and Who's Garbage is That, Anyway?

The financial stakes for the planned closure of Grand Central Sanitary Landfill as it consumes the last available portion of space that was carefully planned and zoned for solid waste disposal are huge.  Let's look at 2009, the latest year for which statistics are publicly available for the amount of waste generated by Northampton County, disposed of in the landfill.

The Northampton County Municipal Waste Management Plan 2010-2020 shows that in 2009, 43,046 tons of municipal solid waste generated in the county were disposed of at GCSL.  The Plan also shows that tipping fees received by GCSL were $105 per ton.

For that year, Plainfield Township records reflect that 371,290 tons of solid waste were disposed of in the landfill.  Since the landfill operates roughly 5-1/2 days a week, this works out to 1298 tons per day.  At $105 per ton, the 2009 average daily income for an operating day is $136,290, and the income for 2009 is $38,985,450.

It should be noted that in 2009 a decline in waste disposal due to the 2007-2008 recession was being experienced, and in 2020, the landfill took in 643,973 tons from all sources (2,252 tons per operational day) - roughly back to the level of disposal pre-recession.  Assuming the 2009 tipping rate (the current rate is not known), income for 2020 would be $67,617,165.

The landfill is permitted to dispose of 2,750 tons average per day, and 25% of this can be sewage sludge.

Plainfield Township in 1987-88 put a significant effort into planning for a maximum land area that would be used for solid waste disposal, and zoning specifically for solid waste was enacted consistent with this plan.  This included space for future expansion to a maximum limit.  Wind Gap, Pen Argyl and Plainfield Township adopted a joint multi-municipal Comprehensive Plan in 2004 which reflects the 1988 boundaries for solid waste planning.  

The landfill expanded by 27 acres in 1998 to 67 acres, and by 42 acres in 2007 to 109 acres.  The expansion space planned for in 1988 has been expended.

The landfill has consumed the available footprint of the solid waste district, and is now rising towards its permitted height limit - determined by engineering limits, air currents that carry malodors and debris, and esthetics.  At the anticipated rate of disposal, the landfill will reach capacity in 2028.

The township supervisors rejected a request in July 2020 to rezone 211 acres of farmland to solid waste for the stated purpose of creating a new landfill across Pen Argyl Road from the current landfill.  81 acres were requested to be used for the new landfill.

The importance of avoiding a conflict of interest with a multinational corporation and tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue at stake

The above recitation of facts shows the importance of having supervisors who are free from suspicion of any conflict of interest in regards to the landfill, and Green Knight Economic Development Corporation.  The planning of the solid waste zoning district was carefully done, and nothing has changed in the vision of the township's future to indicate any error was made.  All that has happened is the end date in the life of the landfill is approaching.  If the mirage of "easy money" causes wise planning to be cast to the wind, then in 30-50 years when the new landfill is full, what is to prevent a third landfill to be built across Delabole Road?  This insanity could continue until half the township is a garbage dump.

Whose garbage is that, anyway?

We need a way to dispose of our garbage.  But for 2009, only 43,046/371,290 = 11.6% of the garbage disposed of in GCSL originated from Northampton County.  A news article from 2002 stated:

"Grand Central accepts up to 3,000 tons of trash per day, with about 60 percent from New Jersey and New York and the remainder from regional Pennsylvania counties"

At the March 2020 Board of Supervisors meeting, I stated that a way of extending the life of the landfill for several years would be for GCSL to simply stop accepting out of state trash.  An argument by pro-expansion proponents was "what about the lost jobs," and my question is, how many jobs have already been eliminated as a result of Grand Central no longer hauling trash for some communities?  Washington Township stopped using them a few years ago, and GCSL bids on contracts in Plainfield Township but has not won them.  Could it be that GCSL does not have to win contracts, with money flowing in from out of state haulers?  Fewer trucks and fewer drivers means lower overhead.  But it also would mean that our small community is bearing the burden of disposing of trash not only from outside our county but outside Pennsylvania - in a very disproportionate manner.

I also stated at the March 2020 meeting that while I am against rezoning to provide for a new landfill and additional permitted solid waste uses, if GCSL commences operation at a new landfill past 2028, then the three communities should receive a significant increase in tipping fees.  Currently, the township receives $3.10 per ton, Pen Argyl $1.29 and Wind Gap $0.80 per ton.