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7.4. SR 05-31-1994 ... rei --'\) ( ~ ~li{ ITEM 7.4. MEMORANDUM TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL FROM: STEPHEN ROHLF, BUILDING AND ZONING ADMINISTRATOR DATE: MAY 26, 1994~ R ~ SUBJECT: FUNDING FOR AN ACTIVE GAS EXTRACTION SYSTEM AT THE ELK RIVER LANDFILL The Elk River Landfill is requesting aid from both the City and County to build an active gas venting system at the Elk River Landfill. The total cost for this active gas venting system is estimated at $252,000 dollars for items such as: drilling wells, piping, the housing for the piping, the equipment to burn off the methane gas, etc. This estimated cost does not include the labor that will be provided by the Elk River Landfill. The Landfill is requesting $70,000 dollars from the City of Elk River and $170,000 dollars from Sherburne County to accomplish this task. e The Landfill currently has a passive gas venting system, which is similar to a sewer stack on a house. This system is not preventing a dangerous build-up of methane gas at the Landfill. The active gas venting system, which will actually pull the methane gas from the Landfill, is needed to ensure public safety. Due to low volumes of waste being delivered to the Landfill, Mr. Kreger has indicated he does not have the funds to accomplish the construction of this gas venting system. The City collects $1.00 dollar per cubic yard for every yard of waste delivered to the Landfill. Twenty-five cents of each dollar collected goes into a fund that is set up for landfill abatement and mitigating local risks associated with the facility. Staff feels that some expenditure from the landfill abatement and mitigation fund to aid in the construction of an active gas venting system, is legitimate under the following conditions: 1. That the landfill is current with past owed surcharge monies prior to the City's contribution towards the active gas venting system being dispersed. 2. That the cost of constructing the active gas venting system is incurred prior to the City dispersing funds. e P.O. Box 490 · 13065 Orono Parkway · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425 Elk River Landfill Continued Page 2 e Included with this memo is a letter from Chris Kreger, president of the Elk River Landfill, Inc., further explaining his request. Mr. Kreger will be at Tuesday night's meeting to present this issue to the Council. e e cclandSR/council e e e LK IVER ANDFILL, INC. 22460 HWy. 169 N.W. . ELK RIVER, MN 55330 . (612) 441-2464 . FAX (612) 441-2025 May 26, 1994 Mr. Steve Rohlf City Of Elk River 13065 Orono Parkway, P.O. Box 490. Elk River, MN 55330 RE: Landfill Tax Due Dear Mr. Rohlf, This letter is written to request a grant from the City of Elk River in the amount of $70,000.00 and provide the background information necessary for the City Council to come to a decision on the request. The same statute which allows the City to tax the . landfill, allows the City to expend moneys obtained from the tax on certain items. We believe. that a landfill gas extraction system at the Elk River Landfill (ERL) qualifies under this statute. Please review this statute and provide your recommendation to the Council. ERL would not normally make this type of request, however, the City license for the landfill requires that a gas extraction system be installed at the facility, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will likely add this requirement to our permit and there is insufficient revenue, as the result of depressed waste flows, to install such a system this year. As you are aware, the solid waste industry has been coming totally un-done over the past years. Recent court decisions have economically forced hauler's to transport waste out of the state of Minnesota at record levels. Landfills having no flow control protection or guarantees of waste flows, are in a particularly difficult position since we are the final link in the waste disposal chain. Additionally, ERL was unsuccessful in it's attempt to obtain the Anoka County contract for the disposal of residual from the County's waste flow at the NRG RDF plant. ERL lost this contract despite the much appreciated participation of Sherburne County on the financial assurance issues. While ERL has had some success in attracting small volumes to the facility, this has not made up for the losses that we have incurred. In order to attract the waste we lFTAXGNT.DOC BUILDING A BETTER ENVIRONMENT Landfill Gas March 31, 1994 Page 2 e have received, ERL had to substantially discount its gate fee, which further complicates our financial position. The bottom line is, it takes approximately $180,000 per month to maintain operations at ERL regardless of waste flows. During the first 4 months of this year we fell short of that mark from $35,000 to $75,000 per month. This has quickly drained any cash reserves that we had. ERL has cut as much out of the budget that it can without severely damaging the services that we provide. Further cuts affect our ability to meet regulatory requirements, paperwork requirements, services to our customers, or would cause lawsuits which could lead to bankruptcy. ERL has sold equipment, tried to re- negotiate loans, cut hours of operation and laid off employees in an attempt to control the bleeding. e Marchand April had shown an increase in waste flows at ERL. This increase was due to the road restrictions which were blocking Jlowtoourcompetition in Wright County. These restrictions have now been lifted, and volumes have again dropped off. To complicate matters even further, it is almost impossible to forecast what will happen in the next year. Legislation is popping up all over the place that could either increase the problems or diminish them. Two lawsuits currently being argued will have an affect one way or the other. The only prudent way to forecast is to plan on things getting worst instead of better. ERL intends to install a gas extraction system at its facility this year. This system is needed to curb the migration of landfill gas off our property. It is our opinion that this system is needed this year ERL estimates that the capital expenditures for this system will be approximately $252,000.00. This does not include excavation work or labor that we would supply out of our normal working crew. The following paragraphs explain landfill gas and the systems used to control it: Landfill Gas: e Landfill gas is made up of numerous gaseous chemicals, the largest volume of which is methane. Methane is generated when certain materials are biologically decomposed in a non-oxygen atmosphere. Many different things generate methane gas, including mixed municipal waste (MSW), swamps, and manure piles. When large amounts of methane gas are produced, manageability of the gas can become a problem. This is due in part to the nature of the construction of the landfill, the Landfill Gas March 31. 1994 Page 3 e process by which methane gas is produced and finally, the tendency of the gas to follow the path of least resistance. These are all contributing factors. Landfill gas also includes other potentially harmful substances, such as; volatile organic compounds and inert substances or non-dangerous substances such as Carbon dioxide. It has been estimated that 20 pounds of mixed municipal waste would generate one cubic foot of methane gas. Typically the generation rate of methane will be at its peak with waste that has been buried for twenty years and then will slowly decrease and extend out over a long period of time. As the methane gas travels through the landfill it picks up and carries with it the gases described earlier. . Gas Systems: Landfills have primarily two options available to them to help control the migration of landfill gas from the landfill property. The first is referred to as a ''Passive System" which merely. vents landfill gas into the atmosphere. Elk River Landfill currently has this system in place. However;. passive systems' are very limited, in their ability to control landfill gas migration since the systems typically only effect the upper few feet of the landfill and do not relieve pressure at the base of the facility. These systems also vent methane into the atmosphere which is said to damage the ozone layer. Other harmful substances are also carried into the atmosphere which can have an effect on human and animal life; if that life is over exposed to these substances. The remaining gases that are not relieved through the passive system, travel through soils away from the pressure zone in the landfill. This zone develops as a result of the generation of methane. . Landfill gases can create several problems. Some of these problems include the erosion of the foundations on buildings as a result of the gas coming into contact with them. Another potential problem is methane gas leaking into buildings and ultimately reaching levels that are explosive. This, if activated by a phone, electrical switch or other source of ignition could cause an explosion or fire. This is similar to what has happened in cities when natural gas pipelines leak. e So far, the only danger that ERL's gas generation has presented is the destruction of some trees: as a result of methane being in the root zone, displacing oxygen. ERL has also discovered that methane gas has begun entering some areas of our shop facility. Allowed to continue, however, in a few years this methane gas could represent a threat to other property owners surrounding the facility. It is ERL's intention to stop that from occurring. Landfill Gas March 31, 1994 'Page 4 . Ground Water Contamination: Landfill gas generation and the constituents carried with it, has been proven to affect ground water in the vicinity of a landfill. Studies in Wisconsin have shown that the installation of Active Gas Extraction Systems has lowered the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VaC's) in the ground water significanUy. ERL believes that this is occurring at our landfill and that the installation of this system will improve the ground water quality in the vicinity of the landfill. The installation of an Active Gas Extraction System always includes a flare or generation device. Because of this, the vac's pulled out of the landfill are 99%(+) destroyed. This then, dramatically improves the air quality of the landfill. . Since the installation of a gas extraction system can be considered 'mitigation for local costs, risks and other adverse affects of a sanitary landfill~ ERLis proposing that the City grant ERL $70,000.00 for the purposes of installing the gas extraction system. In this way ERLhas.a. chance to install a. gas extraction"system.thisyear.-:: e For your information, ERL is requesting a similar grant from Sherburne County in the amount of $170,000.00. We have had some discussions with the County on this . issue and appear receptive to the idea. This is not the first time this type of thing has occurred at ERL. In 1987 Sherburne County granted the landfill approximately $60,000.00 to install the very first portion of the landfill liner. The landfill has not received any other funds from the County or City for any other purposes. Finally, ERL has worked out a plan with you and Lori, for repaying the past due landfill tax. We hope that this has meet with your approval. ERL expects that conditions of the grant would include a requirement that all taxes due the City, are current, at time of disbursement and that the moneys are not dispersed from the City until the expenses are incurred at the landfill. We appreciate your attention to this important matter. If you have any questions or would like to get together and discuss the issue, please give me a call. Sincerely, Elk River Landfill, Inc. . ~9~t~ Chris Kreger, Vice-President ~ N (") ~ 8l 8l 8l 8l ffir z w > w ~ e( w a:: 10 o W l- e( ~ i= en w e is z ~ ... ~ ... ~ " t) 0 " en ..- w t:: ..J Co ell co c:( en .c: en e~ ..J ..J Q) u:: Q) 0 g> ..- .c: Q) CJ) z e( Cl c:( co ..J a.. "3 ..., ~ . c: :J ..., >- R! ~ a. e( 0- R! ~ " .a ell u.. " c: R! ..., ~ t \1;) - ~ ~ .~ C,) \V)~ ~ ") ()