Dive Brief:
- Teton County, WY officials will likely push back construction of a trash transfer station until the summer of 2017, which was originally planned around the pending capping of Horsethief Canyon Landfill — which is leaking toxins. The delay was prompted by the discovery of more buried trash than anticipated, though this finding will not change the landfill closure date, said Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling Division Chief Heather Overholser.
- Overholser is pushing to pursue grading and excavation needed to prep the site prior to construction of the station.
- The county anticipates it will call for bids for site-preparation in March and the work will start in May. The division also plans to apply for a grant through the Wyoming State Loan and Investment Board to support the landfill closure, and the schedule change will allow time to do so.
Dive Insight:
When the county moved five acres of trash from the closed landfill to build a foundation for the proposed transfer station, it did not know of the problems to be unearthed. The unanticipated amount of buried trash is causing a snag now, but probably not a significant enough one to delay the initial steps for the new transfer station. Moving forward now will help contain costs that continue to climb.
"Inflation is likely to happen from '16 to '17," Overholser said. "However, because we are going to have a project that is a straightforward construction project ... we feel it will result in a project that is less costly than if we tried to do all the site preparation and waste excavation as part of that trash transfer construction."
By investing in the project now, the city can control some cost containment. But what is not as much in their control is the amount of available funding in fiscal year 2017 as Gov. Matt Mead and state legislators have spoken about "tightening belts."
"We are eligible to apply," Overholser said. "It just depends on how much money they decide they’re going to be able to appropriate."
