By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
The Crawford County Solid Waste District Policy Committee may have a long-term forecast ready to go for the county but it still has one major hurdle: the Ohio EPA.
The committee met Wednesday afternoon to review the 20-year solid waste forecast draft that must be submitted to the Ohio EPA by June 30. Chris LeGros, vice president of CT Consultants, presented the draft and reviewed highlights with the committee.
In 2013, the most recent numbers available for the draft, the Solid Waste District had 97.49 percent of waste generated in the county that went to the county landfill, a figure that LeGros praised as extraordinarily high. The waste that went out of the county to six other landfills included waste that was not accepted at the county facility.
“A lot of it has to do with the makeup of the generation of industrial waste,” explained LeGros. “It really kind of drives the production of materials that has to go out to other landfills. I think what’s good is that you have definitely communicated really well to all the haulers that they need to bring material here. The concept and implementation of flow control that the commissioners and the policy board adopted was a wise decision and it’s being implemented very well.”
Historically, Crawford County has seen a decline in waste generation due mostly to a reduction in population.
LeGros also credited the Crawford County Solid Waste Management District for its public awareness and involvement.
“The amount of involvement that Brian (Rockwell, director of the Solid Waste Management District) gets from both residents, from the commercial sector really speaks an awful lot about how much the district is trying to engage the residents to recycle,” LeGros said.
The district offers 24/7 trailers at the Bucyrus Kroger, Bucyrus City Hall, Camp Michael, Lowe-Volk Nature Center, Tod Township Hall, and East Park in Galion. It also offers collection sites hosted by various groups throughout the month.
Included in the draft was an increase in rates to $2 from 2016 through 2029 for in-county refuse drop off and an increase to $4 per ton for out-of-county refuse dump. The current $2 out-of-state fee per ton will remain the same.
The rise in rates would reflect pre-2009 rates which were dropped due to the recession.
CT Consultants added a paragraph in the draft to add technical assistance to municipalities interested in starting a curbside recycling program. LeGros said it will be heavily scrutinized by the Ohio EPA as the state government agency makes a push for the implementation of curbside recycling across the state.
LeGros said the county has been hitting the waste reduction goals it set for itself. In 2013 the district provided recycling access to 132 percent of the county’s population. That number, which far exceeds and consistently has exceeded the recommended 90-percent access goal, is calculated due to the multiple recycling sites the district makes available to residents.
The forecast draft now has to be certified by the policy committee and submitted to Ohio EPA by June 30. Ohio EPA has 90 days to review the draft before it is returned to the policy committee to adopt the amended plan. Once it is returned to the committee it will be made available at a public hearing for adoption and then sent to Ohio EPA once again for final approval.