Northampton landfill options viewed

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - The Board of Public Works began its review Wednesday night of a thick final draft laying out alternatives to expanding the city's landfill, before a small crowd of landfill neighbors who urged them to consider other options.

The existing landfill, which board members said receives about 50,000 tons of waste a year, is scheduled to close in June 2011.

The finalized 142-page report discussed at the meeting, which took the city's longtime landfill consulting firm, Stantec, nearly two years to complete and cost about $110,000, was somewhat different from the draft board members have been working with so far.

"Today we are looking at an updated version of this, which is about a half inch thicker and has a hundred small changes," chairman Terry Culhane said. "What I would like to do is generate a good discussion about the issues and some of this content."

The report outlines costs associated with five possible scenarios for the landfill's future: expanding the landfill and continuing operations as they exist now; maintaining the transfer station on Locust Street, closing the landfill and closing the transfer station on Glendale Road; expanding the landfill, but having the city or a contracted company collect trash and recycling curbside around the city; closing the landfill and implementing a citywide collection program that would transport city waste elsewhere; or closing the landfill and having the city provide no services, leaving residents to contract waste removal as needed.

The analysis also offers examples of new and emerging technologies used to control waste in other American cities and internationally, although board member Michael Parsons said the chances of the city being able to afford one is highly unlikely.

"Those technologies are all in different stages of development and they are not cost-competitive with our other options," Parsons said. "I don't think they play a role in part of the city's program. I don't see the city implementing one of these technologies."

To which Culhane added, "It would also cost a lot more to build the facility, and that would translate to a huge loss."

Although the meeting was not meant to generate public input, Culhane allowed a brief period at the end for residents to voice their opinions.

About 10 residents were present, including Ward 6 City Councilor Marianne LaBarge, in whose ward the landfill is situated.

Sheila Townsend, a Glendale Road resident, told board members that their decision shouldn't be based solely on finances.

"All this talk about money, money, money and looking at the bottom line, you all have to remember that there are people living near the landfill that live with these issues every day," Townsend said. "They may not be the wealthiest people in town, but there are human beings out there and they have to be considered."

Other speakers warned members about costs associated with potential lawsuits if there are problems with the landfill's expansion and that the board's decision should be taken extremely seriously because it is one that will likely impact the lives of several future generations.

Because of recent changes to the report, and the depth of its content, after two hours of mulling over the costs associated with the different scenarios, board members continued their discussion to their next meeting. They also began planning a public information session to be held in the JFK Elementary School's Community Room sometime after Labor Day.

There was also some discussion of starting an interactive blog on the department's Web site that would allow residents to post comments about the report which would then be considered at a future public information session, Culhane said.

The City Council has scheduled a special meeting July 30 to consider a proposal to place a nonbinding referendum question on the November ballot that seeks voters' opinions about the landfill expansion.

The final draft of the report is available to the public on the department's Web site, http://www.northamptonma.gov/dpw.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.