Daviess County Fiscal Court approved an ordinance allowing the last nine acres of the West Daviess County construction and demolition (C&D) residual landfill to be used for the disposal of diverted construction debris from the contained landfill. In opening up these last nine available acres of land, Daviess County is expected to run out of room to store construction debris in the next 10-15 years.
More than 50,000 tons of waste is received annually at the C&D landfill, which aside from its original 20 acres, has an additional 20 acres in its waste permit boundary, according to Fiscal Court’s website.
“We accept all types of construction debris here,” the site says. “Some of the material we accept are wood, block, brick, insulation, roofing, quartered tires, cardboard, metal conduit, or most anything associated with the building trade. Solid waste cannot be placed at this landfill. The working area consists of an open area approximately 100 feet by 100 feet, and all other areas must be covered by soil.”
Fiscal Court approved a $40,123 contract with Weaver Consultants for control and quality assurances for the nine-acre plot of land. This nine acres is the last of Daviess County’s residual landfill area to be permitted.
County leaders said a bout of storms that occurred two years ago brought in a large amount of debris that had to be disposed of at the landfill, causing newly permitted space to fill up with matter faster than expected.
“This will be our last expansion at this residual C&D landfill,” said Director of Legislative Services David Smith. “We did this a couple years ago — two years ago, we had a couple of windstorms, and we had an unbelievable amount of shingles come through. Unfortunately, we started to fill up the area we’d just expanded.”
Smith said the County has a permit to expand the remaining nine acres, but no further, meaning things will have to be done differently in order to utilize as much of the area as possible.
“Once [this is complete], we should have between 10 and 15 years of space left,” Smith said. “At this point, instead of staying at a level and not filling it up all the way, we will fill it up all the way.”
As for the future, Smith said the County would need to start thinking ahead about what to do next.
“Sometime during the next few years, we’ll have to start thinking of where to put another one,” he said.
The $40,000 contract cost is only an estimate, said Judge-Executive Al Mattingly. The price could change, depending on how often the contractors have to assess the site.
“Commissioner [George] Wathen had pointed out that, sometimes, they may come out more than three times. The price is based on three times,” Smith said. “IF they don’t come out three times, it will be lower. That price won’t be exceeded unless the state comes back [with a different price].”
