(Mendocino County) Grand Jury: Ukiah needs to cap landfill

Ukiah Daily Journal Staff
Updated: 06/04/2013 12:00:25 AM PDT

City faces severe consequences' for delayed action
Ukiah Daily Journal

The City of Ukiah needs to take action soon to permanently close its former landfill and avoid "severe consequences" such as penalties and fines, the Mendocino County Grand Jury recently recommended.

According to a report titled "A landfill that refused to die," the Grand Jury found that the city "stopped receiving refuse at its landfill on Vichy Springs Road in 2001, but has not capped it yet.

"The law requires the landfill be capped and permanently closed within two years," the report states. "(But) it has been 12 years and the landfill is not capped, not permanently closed nor has the post maintenance plan been submitted for approval."

The GJ notes that the landfill "straddles an earthquake zone, a local watershed and two creeks that feed into the Russian River," and the city's "noncompliance with health and safety requirements for proper containment of landfill waste may result in severe consequences such as fines and constructive orders."

The GJ interviewed employees of the Ukiah Public Works Department, as well as county and state management and regulatory staff. It also reviewed federal and state regulations regarding landfills and water quality, along with communications between regulatory agencies.

The city's landfill was opened in 1954, and in 1999 the city submitted a "Final Closure and Post-Closure Maintenance Plan" to the Local (County) Enforcement Agency representing the California Health Department, CalRecycle (formerly the California Integrated Waste Management Board), and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

After receiving comments, the city revised the plan in 2000, and "for the next eight years comments and revisions went back and forth with the city missing important deadlines." The CalRecycle regulation requires permanent closure of the site within two years, and "on March 13, 2012, the city's landfill was put on the Inventory of Solid Waste Facilities Which Violate State Minimum Standards' due to chronic violations."

The city's budget for 2012-13 projects a reserve of $5,081,411 to cover the closure costs, which are expected to be less than that. However, the GJ notes that "closure costs are subject to change if the regulatory process imposes requirements not contemplated in the closure plan," and "each year there are more regulations making closure more expensive." According to the GJ, "inspection reports show the landfill has been properly maintained since 2001, funds for permanent closure were budgeted and earmarked, and initial plans were made for closure but never completed.

"City staff, the city consultant and the various state agencies blame the Water Board for not completing the early review process," the GJ states, concluding that "insufficient effort has been taken by the City of Ukiah to affect proper, permanent closure of the landfill," and it recommends that the city "take all necessary actions to meet their legal overdue obligations to permanently close the landfill before the state penalizes the city through constructive orders, fines and penalties."

The GJ notes that a response to this report is required from the Ukiah City Council within 90 days, and is requested from City Manager Jane Chambers, Public Works Director Tim Eriksen and Finance Director Gordon Elton within 60 days.

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/news/ci_23382861/grand-jury-ukiah-needs-cap-landfill