| This shows the baling process as the waste is baled for shipment. |
At the recent public lands council meeting, Bob Mascaro, who represents Solitude Municipal Solid Waste Landfill, gave an informative presentation concerning the landfill to be built near Green River. Mascaro said, “Since the annexation, the Solitude Landfill property is no longer in Grand County, but is now in Emery County.”
“We are in the business of solid waste handling. Landfill licensing standards are lengthy and tough in Utah and Green River City also has its own strict standards. We have upgraded our license from Class 1, which is licensed for only waste to come from inside the state of Utah, to a Class 5. Our landfill can take municipal solid waste from outside the state. Although this permit does not allow the acceptance of hazardous or radioactive waste.
“The landfill construction will be totally on private property. We have 320 acres, eight miles outside of Green River. The site is not visible from I-70 or from the town of Green River.
“All waste will come into the facility on rail cars. The surface roads to the landfill will be for employee access only. There are no water rights associated with the property and there is no surface or ground water at the site. Neither is there any historic recreational use of the property.
“Solid waste from the Wasatch Front area will be processed and baled at transfer stations in those locales and then shipped via railroad car to the Solitude site. Our operation at the landfill site will be the storage of the waste only.
“The climate and geology of the area are ideal for this type of disposal site. We can accommodate 19 million cubic yards of waste, and with the new technology available to us for compaction and storage of waste, it is projected that there will be an 18 year life-span of this facility. We are in the process of acquiring tracts of adjacent property from SITLA and the BLM, to lengthen that life-span.
“All recyclable items will be removed from the waste at the transfer station sites in the municipalities prior to baling and shipping to our facility. We will employ 8-10 people per shift and run two shifts daily. Another benefit to our process is that there is no methane produced.
“The bales are bar coded with identifying information pertaining to the source of the waste and the date of it’s processing.
“This is going to be good for the town of Green River. It will bring industry, technology and money into the community. We want all the employees and services to come from Green River or Emery County,” said Mascaro.
In giving the history of the site, Mayor Glen Dale Johnson said that this particular parcel of land was secured by previous Green River Mayor Rey Lloyd Hatt in 1989 with the idea of pursuing industry of some sort. On through the next administration, Mayor Judy Ann Scott pursued the idea of storage for Sharon Steel. None of the projects came together for the use of this property.
Then two years ago, Solitude came to Mayor Johnson with the proposal for the landfill. After some investigation and planning, the landfill is going on the property.
“Our goal and hope is that this comes to pass. It will help Green River City financially,” said Mayor Johnson. “With the baling process and storage of the waste, it is a possibility that at some point in time in the future, that a use will be developed to utilize these waste bales as fuel for electrical generation,” said Mayor Johnson.