Bids have been awarded, as state permits are pending to begin preparing Colonie’s landfill for the last area to be used as part of its current landfill operations.
When completed, Phase II of Landfill Area 6 will take operations to the year 2020. After that the town will have to vie for new properties to develop for landfill operations or cap the area and look elsewhere for its waste management needs.
Last week town board members approved a resolution to award a bid of $2,650,000 to begin the geowork of the new area to Rifenburg Construction Inc., of Troy.
Crews will prepare the site with clay to create an impermeable barrier to better facilitate decomposition and limit runoff.
The board passed a second resolution authorizing Supervisor Mary Brizzell to begin the application process for a 10-year renewal to the town’s state Department of Environmental Conservation solid waste management facility permit.
`It’s getting everything done before it’s due,` said board member U.B. Boisvert.
The permit is set to expire in approximately 180 days, he said.
Phase I, a 12 acre site, was opened in October 2004. The proposed Phase II is capped at 10 and half acres.
Once several other contracts are awarded for various work to be done on Area 6, the site should be waste ready by 2009 or 2010, said landfill Director Joe Stockbridge.
By then, Phase I of the landfill will be nearing capacity. It will be capped and the methane generated from the waste will continue to feed the landfills methane gas to electricity power plant.
`This (Phase II area 6) is the last of entitled areas under the current permit. There are other lands but they are not under our current permit,` said Stock-bridge. `We could theoretically move into Phase II in 2010, and that would bring us close to 2020.`
Stockbridge would prefer that the new phase take operation as far out as 30 years, but the landfill has upgraded most of its operations in the two years since the existing phase opened, he said. New applications help to better break down wastes and minimize the space needed for its disposal. However, in landfill years, 2020 may as well be tomorrow, he said.
In April, the town completed a Local Solid Waste Management Plan. The plan was established to provide a comprehensive approach to dealing with solid waste generated in the town and villages. Outside environmentally sound and cost efficient management, the plan also points to a need to begin looking into options to extend the life of the landfill.
The plan is calling on the landfill to make the best of an estimated 165,000 tons of garbage per year. It also looks to develop programs such as composting programs, expanded recycling, recycling drop off stations and refuse drop off stations.
Win-wins, as Stockbridge calls them. Like the landfill’s gas to electric plant, future operations at the facility will be to better utilize waste. Whether from electricity, compost or other potential energy uses, the goal of the plan is to fill the landfill with items that have no more redeemable economic or environmental uses, said Stockbridge.
That extends the landfills life and vitality.
From concept through to approval and certification, the town could construct Phase II Area 6 in as little as two years. However, until ground is broken and soil composition of the area is confirmed, no exact timeframe can be set. Town officials and Stockbridge are looking to get most of the paper and ground work out of the way to clear its schedule for unforeseeable roadblocks in construction.
Initial estimates put the price of Phase II Area 6 at roughly $9 million. Petroleum and energy prices have raised construction costs. Two years ago, and two and a half acres larger, Phase I rang in at $6.4 million at build out. “