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Looking at the future of construction debris disposal in Beltrami County with a regional approach.

The nine-county group in our region completed a feasibility study in June, which was mentioned in my February article. The nine counties involved in the study are Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard, Marshall, Mahnomen, Norman, Polk and Red Lake Counties.

Why did we do this study? The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has said they are not going to permit any more unlined landfills. The state is also actively going through the rulemaking process to no longer allow unlined landfill as an option to dispose of construction debris within the state statutes and rules.

The study looked at the following criteria:

• Cost of closing and maintaining our landfills for a minimum of 20 years before the state will accept them in the closed landfill program.
• Cost for each county to have its own landfill.
• Regional hub and spoke system where there are two lined landfills and several spokes (transfer sites) located in the nine-county group.

Results from the study also computed projected tip fees per cubic yard. The current rate is $17 per cubic yard.

Option 1: Build our own lined landfill, the estimated tip fee would be $151 per cubic yard.

Option 2: Build a construction debris transfer facility and ship waste to the lined landfill, the estimated tip fee would be $77 per cubic yard.

The nine-county group has applied for state and federal grants to offset the cost of Option 2. Option 1 is not grant eligible. If we receive the grants, the state of Minnesota could pay up to 75% of the cost of the infrastructure and equipment. This would reduce the projected tip fee for Option 2 to around $55 per cubic yard.

When would this happen: We would build the system in 2025 and 2026 and start to phase out the unlined landfills after the new system is built. Within the nine-county group, our landfill permits expire between 2026-2029.

This is not projected to increase any solid waste fees on our residential property taxes. We have also told the state we can’t do this without state funding.

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Brian Olson is the solid waste administrator and public works safety coordinator for Beltrami County. He can be reached at  brian.olson@co.beltrami.mn.us.