FINAL PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY SOLID WASTE ADVISORY GROUP (SWCAG) MEETING. March 17, 2016

Transcription

1 OPENING FINAL PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY SOLID WASTE ADVISORY GROUP (SWCAG) MEETING March 17, 2016 Mr. Thomas Smith called the meeting of the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Group to order at 7:40 p.m. ATTENDANCE: SWCAG Present: Ms. Anne Bryant, Mr. Harrison A. Glasgow, Mr. Ned Greene, Ms. Mary Lou Malo, and Mr. Lou Balboni via telephone. Absent: Mr. Albert E. Brooks, Mr. William T. Lewellen, Mr. Steven Markman, Ms. Joan Moon, Ms. Jane Wyman, and Mr. Joe Ivers. Solid Waste Staff: Mr. Thomas Smith, Mr. Hafez Al-Haj, Ms. Anne Albuquerque, and Ms. Amy Zitzmann. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES Approval of the minutes was deferred due to a lack of a majority of members in attendance at the meeting. Mr. Tom Smith once again discussed the need to appoint new members. Mr. Smith mentioned that he had talked to Supervisor Marty Nohe about appointing new members, at which point Ms. Mary Lou Malo mentioned that she had stopped in at Supervisor Nohe s office and suggested Ms. Jo McCabe whom she had already called. A call for new members was issued and any suggestions were welcomed. Mr. Balboni said that he had spoken to a few people about joining the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Group (SWCAG). The SWCAG also needed an At-Large Member whom Chairman of the Board Corey Stewart would need to appoint. It was confirmed that Ms. Jane Wyman would continue as the Gainesville representative for the group. Mr. Ned Greene from Potomac District said he would scout for members as Supervisor Maureen Caddigan still needed to appoint 2 more members. *The chart below displays the current member representation of the SWCAG*

2 District Number of members Appointed Vacant Total Brentsville 1-1 Coles Gainesville 1-1 Neabsco Occoquan 1-1 Potomac Woodbridge At Large AGENDA TOPICS COLGAN HIGH SCHOOL UPDATE Mr. Tom Smith stated that though there was a slowdown in the progress through the winter, work at the new Colgan High School is now going on feverishly and a new traffic light is up. Mr. Smith said that Mr. Neil Bagnell had mentioned that with the upcoming good weather, work and progress will catch up quickly; both on site and within the buildings. ACTION: Keep updated on progress of Colgan High School. BALL PARK UPDATE (FIELD RECONSTRUCTION) Mr. Smith announced that the new field, built last year, is now open. He said that they plan to start construction and re-grading work in the next couple of weeks on the other field. Crews are now moving goal posts, wheel stops and bleachers in preparation to strip off the topsoil. Then dirt will be brought in to level off the field which will then be sodded in June. Mr. Smith mentioned that they will be working with the Parks Department and hiring some County contractors to do the grading. The Parks Department will hire someone to sod the field. The field should be completed and ready by the end of summer. This project is unique in that we are using existing contracts and did not bid out the work to a general contractor.

3 ECO-PARK UPDATES TRAIL SYSTEM UPDATE: Mr. Smith was pleased to pass along news that the elementary and middle schools are very enthusiastic about this new trail and the educational opportunities it will offer. Ms. Joy Green continues to do a commendable job with the development of the trail. Although the new bridge is ready we are waiting on a bridge plan from the engineer to obtain a permit before it can be put in place. It is Tom Smith s hope that the bridge will be in place before April 30, A walk with the schools and teachers is planned for Tuesday, March 29 th at 4:15 pm. All those interested will meet on March 29 th at Benton Middle School; where the trail and new soccer field meet. Mr. Smith mentioned that in another meeting, when discussing the nature trail and educational stops with the principal of Benton, she, along with several science teachers, were very excited and enthusiastic about this opportunity. April 30 th has been planned as a work day with the Eagle Scouts and volunteers to build educational stops along the trail. Dominion Power is scheduled to come out sometime in May, to build a shed at the high school and put up signs. A location for the shed has been identified on the high school property at the northern trail entrance. Currently, progress is moving along and things should be ready to roll before school opens in September. ACTION: Continue to keep updated on progress. SOLAR PROJECT UPDATE: More detailed technical information has been submitted to NOVEC, and we are now waiting on NOVEC s approval. Mr. Smith said that the contractor had minor wording and language changes to the agreement that will have to be edited before the process can continue. Mr. Smith explained a Termination for Convenience section and some wording changes that will have to be made to the agreement. Once edited, the agreement will be going to the board on April 12, Mr. Smith hopes that the Solar Project will be under construction this summer, and the contractor is confident they can get it designed and built soon. Mr. Smith also informed the group that the capping project is completed. As an addition to the Solar Project, Mr. Smith and others are looking into the educational and demonstrational facilities for wind power. The Wind Project has been accepted into James Madison University s program, which will offer advice and engineering help. An idea is to put up several different types of small windmills, and children will be able to learn about wind power and the windmills themselves. Mr. Smith said that a future plan would be to team up with the schools via an internet based monitoring program, and have the students monitor the windmills remotely. This venture would not be a money-maker as the power generated would be a very small amount ( kw). A question was raised on how these windmills would affect the birds. Again, it was stated that these would be smaller windmills and that the effect these windmills have on the birds and other animals might be

4 something that the students could study. Mr. Smith stated that this effect on wildlife is something that the USDA Fish and Wildlife Service who is working on bird abatement on site can study as well. ACTION: Keep posted on progress. ECO-BUILDING PHASE II WORK WITH VIRGINIA TECH STUDENTS Mr. Smith stated that though the Virginia Tech students are on spring break and work is temporarily stopped, they are posing questions and asking for information. Currently, they are concerned with the size of the water tower, and the effect of its shadow on the proposed Ecobuilding. Mr. Smith said that a tour of the Alice Ferguson Foundation at their Living Building Education Center will take place on April 13, The Alice Ferguson Foundation is located at 2001 Bryan Point Road, Accokeek, Maryland. Students from Virginia Tech are attending and any others are welcome to join. Mr. Harry Glasgow mentioned that Ms. Joy Green had also scheduled an educational subcommittee meeting at 3:30pm on the same day. Mr. Smith said that the group should be back in time to attend Ms. Green s meeting as well. He may also bring along some people from the schools to see the Alice Ferguson Foundation s living building. ACTION: Schedule trip to Alice Ferguson Foundation and inform group about their Living Building Education Center. WASTE CONVERSION NEXT STEPS Mr. Smith attended a conference call this morning (March 17, 2016) on a request for an expression of interest. At this point they are reaching out to companies with different technologies, taking note of what they are looking for, and if they are interested. This allows us to tailor a future request for a proposal (RFP), based upon their interest. This is a two-step process, and if there is interest, another RFP will be issued. ACTION: Keep posted on upcoming progress and interest. NEW ORGANIC PROCESSING PROJECT: Mr. Smith informed the group that the organic processing project is under design; with final design submitted by the middle of April. It will then be submitted with permits for construction

5 starting this summer. Their engineers are running a little behind on getting designs finished but are making progress. ACTION: Keep posted on progress. LANDFILL OPERATIONS UPDATE SEQUENCE 3 CLOSURE PROJECT: Mr. Tom Smith stated that the Sequence 3 Closure Project is now completed. However Shamrock Environmental will be back in April to do some touch up work and re-seeding of areas that did not grow. All of Phase-I and the existing landfill has been capped. ACTION: Completed. WETLANDS MITIGATION PROJECT UPDATES: Mr. Smith stated that two bids came in today (March 17, 2016) for the final excavation and grading for the wetlands project. One bid was slightly over budget and the other was right in line with the budget. Mr. Smith said that they also bid out the actual plantings, which is due on Tuesday, March 22, Currently, the schedule is to do the excavation work through spring and summer, and then plant in the fall. The project should be done by the end of the year. ACTION: Keep posted on progress and report at next meeting about the bid for the plantings. TEMPORARY NEED FOR BIOSOLID DISPOSAL FROM SERVICE AUTHORITY There has been a request from the Service Authority for disposal of sludge and bio solid; as their incinerator at the H.L. Mooney Plant will be down for maintenance over three months. Their current plan is to stabilize the sludge, making it a bio-solid and apply it to fields. The Service Authority is requesting the Landfill to accept the material if a land application site cannot be found. A brief agreement has been drafted and Supervisor Nohe has been informed, however his comments and concerns are not known yet. At the moment, about tons of bio solids are produced a day at the H.L. Mooney Plant. Mr. Smith pointed out that in this agreement, a maximum of 100 tons per day of bio solids (4 truckloads) will be accepted at the Landfill. Certain requirements will be enforced such as time of day they can deliver, how much, no loads on Sundays or Mondays and they will be charged at the same rate as that of recycling residue.

6 Mr. Smith and Mr. Al-Haj stated that in 2013, bio solids were accepted into the Landfill as a test, and things seemed to go very smoothly. Typically sludge and/or bio solids are disposed of in a hole in the refuse and buried immediately. Odors from these bio solids are limited as they are stabilized with lime. These bio solids are also sanitized, treated, and tested. Mr. Smith and Landfill staff will study these test results as well to make sure the sludge and bio solids are treated correctly. Mr. Smith s biggest concern is on Sundays, as the Landfill staff is down to one operator. The Service Authority wishes to have an option to park four trailers in the back of the Landfill overnight on Sunday, covered properly to make sure odors are controlled which would then be taken out to be covered and disposed of correctly on Monday morning. Mr. Smith repeated that this was a draft agreement and a temporary arrangement for three months. This County has an agreement with the Service Authority to accept our leachate from the landfill. The Service Authority also disposes ash from the sludge incinerator. *A copy of this DRAFT agreement can be found attached to these minutes* ACTION: Keep in communication with the Prince William County Service Authority and update SWCAG if draft agreement gets approved. RECYCLING OPERATIONS UPDATE FREESTATE FARMS CONTRACT: Mr. Smith stated that the Freestate Farms contract is going well. They are composting materials and demand is high. Mr. Smith said that they will need to make more material to keep up with the demand. ACTION: Keep updated on state of compost and amount. NATIONAL PAPER RECYCLING (NPR) CONTRACT: Repairs need to be made to the National Paper Recycling building. The concrete loading dock has yet to be repaired, while roof repairs have recently been made. ACTION: Keep posted on repairs to building.

7 THE DONATION PLACE UPDATES: Mr. Smith said that they will meet with the contractor of The Donation Place next Friday, March 25, 2016 to discuss how to fix some of the problems being encountered. They intend to discuss ideas to achieve our goal to increase reuse and recycle items brought to the landfill, especially furniture and also make the area a friendlier place. Mr. Scott MacDonald is also doing research to see who else might be interested if we rebid it at a later point in time. ACTION: Update group with outcome of meeting with Donation Place and see if an agreement can be reached to accept more items. HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE BUILDING: Mr. Smith said that the inside of the used oil anti-freeze collection building has been repaired, and the oil and anti-freeze area is now enclosed. This was done to prevent the birds from nesting in the building and seems to be working well. ACTION: Keep updated on birds and hope that they will continue to be deterred by white paint and new roof. CITIZEN TIME Mr. Ned Greene mentioned that each time there was heavy rain, Lake Montclair turned mud red and visibility dropped to less than three inches under the water. He noticed that this is a recent occurrence and it is not just a little mud or silt. He went on to say that he had already met with the watershed team to discuss the issue, and they hoped to identify the source. His observation is that it is red mud which is probably coming down through Powell s Creek. Mr. Tom Smith has also met with the watershed team in regards to the run-off from the Landfill, but has not noticed anything of concern. Mr. Greene said he would appreciate it if Mr. Smith could look into things as he meets with others within the County. Mr. Harry Glasgow posed a question to Mr. Tom Smith asking if the Prince William County Landfill would accept dredging materials from Lake Barcroft in Fairfax. Mr. Smith stated that we do not accept dredging material from outside the County even if offered payment. Mr. Tom Smith informed the group that Fairfax County is having maintenance issues with the waste-to-energy plant. Since one incinerator burner is down for maintenance and another unexpectedly broke, Fairfax County is currently bringing about 15 trucks of refuse a day to the landfill, and we had to inform our haulers of restrictions on refuse being delivered to the facility. Mr. Smith said that though this maintenance happens every spring, he was under the impression that with Fairfax County s new contract with Covanta, the County would receive minimal refuse

8 from Fairfax. Currently, we are monitoring the situation and keeping communication open. Mr. Balboni voiced his concern about the lack of effort from Fairfax County to resolve this issue, and to him it seems that we are always bailing them out. Mr. Tom Smith expressed the same concerns and hopes that when the waste-to-energy facility is back up and running at full capacity they will take as much as we can bring them. Mr. Smith and Mr. Al-Haj stated that Prince William County haulers will typically take up to tons per day to Fairfax. More refuse from Prince William County goes to Fairfax than comes to the Landfill. Mr. Smith stated that the goal of this agreement was to have less refuse going to the Landfill. Tom Smith informed members that he has been spending a lot of time on the Dominion Power coal ash issue. They have about 3.7 million cubic yards of ash. This is a very controversial issue as the County had authorized to sue DEQ. Dominion was approached by the County Attorney and an agreement was reached where Dominion would treat the water to a more stringent level than the permit issued by DEQ. The other permitting issue is for capping of the ash pond and a closure permit will be needed from DEQ. The groundwater monitoring and annual report will be available in April. Compost Awareness Day with Get the Dirt is scheduled for April 30, 2016 between 10m -2pm at the Balls Ford location. Lisa Ziegler, from the Gardeners Workshop Farm will be speaking. Also, on May 7, 2016 we will host Shred Day from 9am-1pm at the Landfill and Balls Ford Road. Residents can bring up to 4 boxes of papers to shred. ADJOURNMENT: The next Solid Waste Citizen s Advisory Group meeting will be on April 21, 2016 at 7:30 pm in the HHW building conference room. Meeting adjourned at 8:35pm by Mr. Tom Smith.