COUNTY COMMISSIONERS VIEW SOLID WASTE PLAN

JACKSON - A new era in solid waste is coming next year to Southeast Missouri and it won't come cheap, according to officials who spoke during a public hearing Monday at the Cape Girardeau County Commission in Jackson.

The commission heard details of the proposed waste management plan that's designed to reduce the amount of solid waste going into area landfills by 1998.

Details of the plan were presented by Tim Morgan, solid waste management planner, and Tom Tucker, director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission. The economic development commission crafted the proposed plan for the seven-county Region 8 Solid Waste Management Committee in response to a mandate from Missouri Senate Bill 530 to reduce by 40 percent the amount of solid waste going into Missouri landfills by 1998.

Also on hand at the hearing were representatives of the city of Cape Girardeau, which has already instituted an aggressive solid waste management plan.

Morgan said the Region 8 plan includes public education programs dealing with solid waste management. It also calls for programs that will reuse, recycle and compost materials instead of placing them in landfills.

The plan also calls for awareness and public education programs on the proper disposal of household hazardous waste, and special wastes generated by homeowners, business and industry. This includes large appliances that are no longer permitted in landfills.

The centerpiece of the plan is a publicly-owned and -operated regional landfill that would be in operation within the next three to five years. The landfill would be open to public and private haulers.

Projections in the 10-year plan, which will be updated every two years, indicate the population growth in the Region 8 area is expected to increase from 188,562 in the year 2000 to 214,355 by the year 2020.

Right now, the region generates approximately 120,000 tons per year (TPY) of combined commercial and residential solid waste, with another 52,000 tons per year coming from industry.

The plan projects that the amount of commercial and residential solid waste will increase to approximately 127,000 TPY by the year 2000, approximately 136,000 TPY by 2010, and approximately 145,000 TPY by 2020.

Work on the plan began one year ago. It must now be approved by members of the Region 8 Committee and submitted to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources before Dec. 18. After it is submitted, the DNR has 180 days to either approve the plan, or make revisions and return it to the Region 8 Solid Waste Committee no later than the middle of 1994. Morgan said some elements of the plan, including public education programs, will be implemented at that time.

In addition to Monday's hearing in Jackson, similar hearings to explain the Region 8 plan are scheduled in Bollinger, Ste. Genevieve and Madison counties this week.

After listening to details of the plan, Presiding Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Gene Huckstep observed, "We're in a new era on solid waste."

He warned that the price of conforming to the federal Environmental Protection Agency rules and regulations on solid waste management won't be easy or cheap. "It's going to be a bitter pill to a lot of small municipalities and a lot of individuals," said Huckstep.

Noting that the plan is subject to changes in EPA and DNR rules and regulations, Huckstep remarked, "That you can bet on. The rules and regulations of today won't be the rules and regulations of next year. We already know that."

Huckstep said the county commission will vote on the plan later this month. Other counties and political subdivisions in Region 8 must do the same by Dec. 18.

Tucker said he is optimistic that the Region 8 Solid Waste Management Plan will be submitted on time and will come back without major changes or revisions from the DNR.

He said Region 8 was one of the last districts formed in the state, and has learned from other districts across the state in preparing its plan. Said Tucker: "We've taken our time to do it right the first time so we do not make the kind of mistakes some of the other districts made."

By reducing the amount of solid waste that goes into the regional landfill, Tucker said, taxpayers will save money and prolong the life of the landfill. He noted the implementation of the Region 8 Solid Waste Management Plan means "the concept of the old town dump, and even the concept of today's landfills, are now outmoded with the new state and federal solid waste management requirements. The landfill of the future will be an asset and generate some employment," he added.

Morgan said citizens and taxpayers should realize now that costs associated with the solid waste management plan are going to increase as it is implemented. He said some of the increase will be covered by state grants, but most of the money will come from higher landfill tipping fees and fees that are charged for picking up and transporting solid waste to the landfill.

He noted the plan and cost of implementing it will affect both urban and rural residents.