Council mulls asking for waiver to leave closed dump alone
By JUSTINE FREDERIKSEN Ukiah Daily Journal
Updated: 07/12/2013 08:43:54 AM PDT
To possibly avoid paying several million dollars to cap its former landfill, the Ukiah City Council discussed pursuing a waiver from the state Legislature to exempt the city from current requirements.
"This is a landfill that is already meeting the requirements as far as monitoring, and this community's going to spend upwards of $6 million literally just to cap the thing," City Manager Jane Chambers said at the council's last regular meeting July 3. "I really wonder, as your city manager, whether this is really a worthy expenditure or not. We are required to by state law, I'm told, but I don't know what it really accomplishes for our community."
The discussion was prompted by a Mendocino County grand jury report alleging that the city has "no plan, no schedule and shows no motivation to close (its former) landfill" off Vichy Springs Road, which hasn't been used for more than a decade. Certain staff members, including Chambers and Public Works Director Tim Eriksen, needed to respond to the report by July 16.
"There are probably 5,000 people that have moved to Ukiah since we closed it," Vice-Mayor Phil Baldwin said to Eriksen. "Can you tell the public what we're talking about?"
"In the early 1950s, the city started a landfill out in the Vichy Springs area," Eriksen said. "That landfill was in operation until 2001, when we stopped receiving refuse there. The reason we stopped, is we were getting height restrictions for the power linesthat go over it from Pacific Gas & Electric."
Since the closure, Eriksen said the city has complied with the state laws that require certain actions after a landfill closure.
"Why in the heck is it so hard to close a dump?" Baldwin asked, and Eriksen said, "Well, closing a dump, which we've done, is different than capping a dump," adding that "a closed dump doesn't receive (more garbage)," while "a capped landfill starts a 30-year process of monitoring."
When Baldwin asked what a cap meant, Eriksen said it is "a water-impervious top so that no rainfall can get in there."
"So the toxins that are in there won't get into the Russian River?" Baldwin asked, and Eriksen said "yes, that's the idea. However, it should be noted that we have 20 monitoring wells around the landfill now, and there is no poison leaching. The poison goes into the sewer system.
"(Capping) this one is going to be a nightmare," Eriksen continued. "This thing should probably sit, with nothing else done to it."
"I think what we should do is go the legislative route and ask our local legislator to try and get a waiver for us," said Council member Mari Rodin. "I know that special waivers like that are granted all the time. It might be worth trying before we spend all that money."
Mayor Doug Crane said "the process would seem pretty daunting, but it's worth a try," and Baldwin called the idea "brave and creative."
City Attorney David Rapport said the city could be facing penalties while it pursued a legislative fix, and added that the council could only vote on the item at hand, which was approving the city's response to the grand jury report.
Eriksen said the city does have a plan for capping the landfill, has not missed deadlines and has filed all the necessary reports.
Justine Frederiksen can be reached at udjjf@ukiahdj.com, on Twitter @JustFrederiksen or at 468-3521.
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/news/ci_23646956/should-city-ukiah-cap-its-landfill
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