County Demolition Debris Land Disposal permit reissued for ten years
Tue, 08/27/2019 - 3:11pm
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By Karen Edelbach
The Clearwater County Board of Commissioners met on August 20, 2019.
Environmental Services Director, Dan Hecht brought copies of the Permit Reissuance for the Clearwater County Demolition Debris Land Disposal Facility, which was recently issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for the solid waste facility on Fairground Road, Bagley. It is issued for a ten year period, beginning July 30, 2020.
"We operated the solid waste facility for 27 years without a permit, beginning in 1976" he said, recounting a little bit of the history of the facility. "In about the mid-90’s, the State started pointing out things found that were wrong and needed to change because they wanted to get the County into the permitting cycle as an enforcement tool."
"This is the last permit for the current demolition landfill facility, because the remaining space will be filled to capacity before the permit expires. We use about 3,000 cubic yards of space per year and there are approximately 24,000 cubic yards now remaining."
He pointed out areas of which he wanted the Commissioners to be aware:
State inspectors want certain items to be covered daily, such as electronics and tires, because at other facilities they’re finding that chemicals leech into groundwater from wastes that are exposed to weather. It’s impractical for our facility to comply with such a requirement, said Dan. Most of the electronics are recycled, but they’re stored outdoors while they’re waiting to be loaded, he stated.
Ground water monitoring is being done at a substantial cost, per State requirements, because demolition landfills are being found to have impacts on groundwater statewide.
"Because our groundwater monitoring system is so new, there are more questions than answers coming from the results, such as flow direction.” He said it takes time to establish the water flow direction and our data only goes back 8 years.
"It's something we have to work on, but it’s very likely by the time we have all the answers, the facility will be closed."
U of M Seminar: The University of Minnesota will be conducting educational seminars to homeowners regarding how private wells and septic systems function and the related maintenance in communities that request it. The classes will also provide property owners with basic information on chemicals of emerging concern such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and the potential impact on groundwater.
The seminars are provided through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health, with a goal of 50 people in attendance.
"I would like to take advantage of this, and they have excellent educational speakers available. People throughout the county would be invited," Dan said. There are some minimal costs such as providing snacks to encourage attendance, and Septic System Owners Guides (a cost of $3 each), as well as advertising.
Commissioners thought there may not be enough interest to hold an event locally.
Dan assured them that he believed there would be much interest and wouldn't be surprised if the attendance doesn't fill a room.
"In my experience there is a lot of interest by home owners in how the septic system works."
The Commissioners were in favor of scheduling a seminar in the early spring as building season gets under way.
County Auditor-Treasurer Allen Paulson reported that County Program Aid that will be received in 2020 went up by $22,980 to a total of $787,783.
"This is aid the counties get that is based on population and valuation," he said. "It will be put into the County Revenue Fund and will offset against overall taxes."
He was authorized to pay the submitted invoices of $38,715 for the County Revenue Fund and $14,634 for the Nursing Service Fund.
All Commissioners were present at the meeting: John Nelson, Neal Illies, Dean Newland, Mark Titera, and Mark Larson.