MOSCOW -- While Latah County officials continue to explore the construction of a regional landfill fed by garbage from outside entities, Moscow City Supervisor Gary Riedner expressed concerns about the costs and politics of the idea.
"The hot-button issue is the importation" of solid waste, Riedner said during a Tuesday night meeting of the county's Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC). "How do we feel about this county being a host county?"
Loreca Stauber, chairwoman of the county commission, said the proposed project might reduce solid waste disposal costs and could enhance other programs. The county is exploring the possibility of purchasing more than 300 acres adjacent to the present landfill east of Moscow.
Private engineer Steven G. Sedlacek of Boise told SWAC members a landfill is indeed a potential money-maker. But there also are risks. To make it pay, three to four times the solid waste now produced in Latah County must be brought in from the outside.
"The more waste you bring in, the less it costs," said Sedlacek. "That's a no-brainer."
But up-front money must be spent to get the project moving ahead. "Someone is going to have to take a risk," Sedlacek said. "You could build this landfill and not attract any waste."
Don Bafus, the county's solid waste coordinator, said he's been in contact with Whitman County officials across the border in Washington and they've expressed an interest in exporting solid waste once their disposal contracts expire in 2006.
All household solid waste in Latah County is exported. The city of Moscow owns the transfer station east of town and the county has a contract with the city for disposal. It runs out in 2003.
So Stauber and Commissioners Paul Kimmell and Sam Duncan have been exploring options. One, to build a landfill in the Harvard area, seems to have disappeared after residents there circulated petitions in opposition. Little or no opposition has been voiced against the idea of building the regional site adjacent to the present landfill.
Stauber said the plan would be for the county to own the property while a private company, probably Latah Sanitation, operates the landfill under county oversight. Joe Johnson of Latah Sanitation said his company is interested in the concept and he said costs could be cut significantly if enough solid waste is brought into the county. The regional landfill, Stauber said, would have to be built under stringent federal guidelines.
She said she wants to "minimize the fear that it's just a hole in the ground."
Riedner said the financial figures to date don't seem all that attractive and for that reason, "I find it hard to get behind the idea of constructing a landfill."
The commissioners have not ruled out maintaining the status quo. Latah County's solid waste collection and disposal system has been lauded by officials as perhaps the best in the state.