4.4 SR 05-13-2013 �i
EOty lk REQUEST FOR ACTION
River
TO ITEM NUMBER
Mayor and City-Council 4.4
AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY
Consent May 13, 2013 Rebecca Haug, Environmental
Administrator
ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By
Elk River Landfill Compliance Boundary and MPCA Permit Cal Portner, City Administrator
REVIEWED BY
Peter Beck, City Attorney
ACTION REQUESTED
Approve by motion a Council-signed letter to the MPCA Commissioner.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Staff presented concerns with the draft MPCA permit for the Elk River Landfill at the May 6,2013, City
Council meeting.
At the meeting,it was decided that the Council would send a letter to John Linc Stine,MPCA
Commissioner, expressing the city's concerns with the permit.
Attached is the letter for signature.
ATTACHMENTS
■ May 14, 2013,letter to John Linc Stine,MPCA Commissioner
POWERED By
ATURE
Oty of
Elk = ,
River
13065 Orono Parkway
Elk River,MN 55330
May 14, 2013
John Linc Stine
MPCA Commissioner
520 Lafayette Road
St. Paul Minnesota 55155-4194
RE: City of Elk River Comments - Elk River Landfill Solid Waste Management Facility Permit,
SW-74, February, 2013 Draft Permit
Dear Mr. Stine:
On behalf of the City Council, the City of Elk River (City) has received and reviewed a copy of the
draft Solid Waste Management Facility Permit, SW-74, for Waste Management, Inc. (WMI), Elk
River Landfill (ERL). The draft was included in email correspondence to the City on February 26,
2013. The City provided comments to the draft permit on March 14, 2013, and met with MPCA
staff on Monday,April 22, 2013, to discuss those comments.
As stated in the March 14, 2013, letter to the MPCA, the City remains opposed to the location of
the compliance boundary in the draft permit. The ERL has identified alternative compliance
boundaries in subsequent submittals to the City and the MPCA. Most recently, the 2012 Annual
Water Quality Report contains Figure 2 which indicates the compliance boundary in a location
approximately 300 feet west of the location shown in the approved compliance boundary.
ERL's proposed compliance boundary incorporates the City trail property which is contrary to the
MPCA rule requirements as outlined in Minn. R. 7035.2815, subp. 4: and a synopsis provided by
MPCA guidance (in part),is as follows:
The compliance boundary must be on the facility property, must completely surround the landfall, and
cannot be more than 200 feet from the >0year fall footprint. To facilitate monitoring and any
potential future corrective actions unless otbenvise approved by the commissioner, the permittee must
maintain a minimum 200 foot setback from the fall and the property boundary.
The ERL has indicated that it has an agreement with the City, dated December 28, 1992, which
addresses this concern and enables the compliance boundary in the proposed location. The
referenced agreement is a License Agreement which allows access onto the City property for the
limited purposes of installing monitoring wells and water quality monitoring. The License
Agreement does not convey any property interest in the City property to the ERL and does not
provide for expanding the compliance boundary to include or cross City property.
Phone: 763.635.1000
Fax: 763.635.1090 P 0 W E R 1 0 O Y
www.ci.elk-river.mmus INAIUREI
The City does not approve of the MPCA or ERL including the City's trail in the compliance
boundary of the facility. MPCA rules require that the compliance boundary be on the facility
property. The ERL has no property interest in the City trail property and extending the compliance
boundary across the property would violate the rule. The City's License Agreement allowing the
ERL to access the City trail property to install monitoring wells will not be amended to allow the
compliance boundary to be in the location depicted in the draft permit. The City recommends the
MPCA change the location of the compliance boundary to remain consistent with state rules prior
to this permit's public notice.
Lastly,unrelated to the comment letter,but concerning the draft permit, the Council approved a
resolution on August 20, 2012, supporting prompt enforcement of Minnesota Statutes, Section,
473.848,Metro Wlaste Disposal Restrictions, restricting the disposal of unprocessed mixed municipal
solid waste generated in the metropolitan area by landfill. The draft permit does not reflect how the
MPCA will enforce the statute. The City recommends this being addressed in the ERL permit.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the draft permit for Elk River Landfill.
Sincerely,
John Dietz,Mayor
City of Elk River
cc: Cal Portner, City Administrator
Peter Beck, City Attorney
Suzanne Fischer, Community Operations &Development Director
Matt Ledvina, City Environmental Consultant
Dave Lucas, Sherburne County
General Manager, Elk River Landfill