Military's use of landfill could benefit residents

Military's use of landfill could benefit residents

By Steve Limtiaco • Pacific Daily News • January 25, 2010

The military wants to be a customer of the new landfill when it is built, according to the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the military buildup, and that decision could help keep trash fees down for Guam residents, saving them about $20 a month.

The bad news is the current $10 monthly fee, which has been in place during the ongoing registration period, is scheduled to increase to $30 per month by April 2011, and will not decrease, even if the military commits to using the civilian landfill.

The good news is the military's use of the landfill is expected to shield residents from steep price increases during the next decade, so the monthly fee would remain about $30.

Solid waste receiver Gershman, Brickner & Bratton last summer calculated the monthly fee for residential trash collection, with and without the military's participation. The government's solid waste operations are in receivership because the government of Guam failed to close the Ordot dump and build a new landfill, as required in a 2003 consent decree.

Without the military, the monthly fee for residential trash collection would increase to $43 by 2015, then to $52.81 by 2017, according to the receiver's calculations. The $52.81 fee would hold steady for at least five years, through 2022.

And commercial customers would save as much as $118.60 per ton on commercial tipping fees if the military uses the landfill -- $156 instead of $274.60, according to the calculations for the year 2017.

According to the draft EIS for the buildup, the amount of trash that would be generated by the military is significant -- about 40 percent of the trash entering the new landfill would be put there by military customers. The entire island, including the military, is projected to produce 135,849 tons of waste per year, not including recyclable material.

But the projected life expectancy of the new landfill is expected to remain the same -- more than 30 years -- according to the receiver, because public works officials overestimated how much trash was being generated by Guam civilians. That's because there was no accurate way of measuring the trash going into Ordot dump when estimates were made for the new landfill. Trash entering Ordot dump now is weighed on a truck scale.

"It will certainly fill up faster with (the military) but the estimated life will still be well above 30 years," said David Manning, special principal associate for the solid waste receiver. "With the scale system in place, it is now clear that the total waste stream, even when the military is included, are at about the levels originally projected without the military."

In its latest quarterly report to the federal court, the receiver also noted that the military's use of the landfill could benefit the environment by reducing the number of landfills and by providing greater opportunities to work with the military on ways to recycle and minimize the amount of waste being generated here.

According to Manning, the military likely will collect and haul its own trash, even if it becomes a customer of the new landfill. In that respect, it would be similar to a commercial trash hauler.

The receiver has been negotiating with the military on behalf of the local government, and the military in July 2009 signed a letter of intent to use the new landfill.

"The military has consistently indicated that it will continue to handle its own waste collection," Manning said.

A Look at Layon

A Look at Layon
By John Davis
Published Dec 16, 2008
KUAM News

A group of local contractors with their eye on the prize for winning the bid for beginning stages of construction to be done at Layon, Inarajan got their potential moneys worth today by embarking on a three-mile hike through the area. TG Engineers president Tor Gudmundsen gave contractors an outline of where the road, landfill cells and earthwork will be done.

"We hiked over to this corner, the southwest corner of Cell 1, so that they could see the full site of the area that would be worked on for cells 1 and 2 and again this operation road alignment," explained Gudmundsen. He demonstrated how just outside of Cell 1 will lie Pond 3A, a storm drainage basin, that will act as a monitoring point and catch drainage and runoff, which will assist in eliminating further environmental impacts to the area.

Gudmundsen says as the landfill expands based on future needs, other basins will be built around future cells. "We've studied how the rainfall runoff discharges from the site now in it's natural condition," he continued, "and we want it to runoff and discharge in a very similar fashion as the site is developed so that we don't really change the discharge of storm water around the site perimeter."

Speaking of the need for future expansion, Layon will be able to hold more than just a pair of cells for solid waste disposal. The site actually provides for 11 cells to be constructed over the landfills projected 41-year lifespan.

But with no commitment from the federal government as to whether it will be a customer of GovGuam, Gudmundsen says although there's plenty of space at Layon for Uncle Sam's trash, the capacity plan might have to undergo some adjustments. "The sizing is based on information from 2004 and 2005 and that was before the military buildup was announced and we worked out a 41 years site capacity plan so that's subject to change now as the trash from the buildup and the Air Force and others might be also coming here," he told KUAM News.

Although we overheard certain contractors stating they might have some trouble submitting bids for the project within a short amount of time, those interested have until January 8 to submit their proposals.

Meanwhile, another field trip for interested bidders will be conducted next week.