Design work underway for new ‘multiuse' transfer station in Cape

The new $5.5 million transfer station to be built in Cape Girardeau next year is being designed to combine solid waste and recycling operations, which city officials say will mean expanded services in a centralized location.

The Cape Girardeau City Council has authorized an initial $103,000 contract with the engineering firm HDR Inc. to design the facility, which will replace the 20-year-old transfer station in the 2500 block of South Sprigg Street.

"It's like any other facility that's getting older," said Public Works director Tim Gramling. "It needs a lot of upgrades and repairs. We've just been cobbling it together on an annual basis."

So when the state Department of Natural Resources asked the city to consider an environmental upgrade in some area of its operations in 2010, building a new transfer station was among the first things that came to mind, Gramling said.

The city agreed to build the new facility to offset penalties the state was leveling because wastewater had been making its way into the Mississippi River dozens of times a year. The city already has a plan in place to build a new wastewater treatment plant to keep city sewage out of the river, but Gramling said they knew they would have to be build a new transfer station soon anyway.

"And we wanted to look at a multiuse facility to combine recycling and trash all together as a way to look for efficiencies," he said.

The engineering firm is expected to have the design ready by October or November and the new 21,600-square-foot facility is expected to be built and operational by November 2013.

A site has yet to be selected, but one of HDR's missions will be to scout possible locations. It's not likely, Gramling said, that the new multiuse facility will be built on the existing spot. The city leases the property from Buzzi Unicem and it will probably just revert to the company. The new facility will require about six to seven acres.

The new transfer station will continue to accept the roughly 25,000 tons of refuse that is typically hauled away from the existing station each year. But it will also include the recycling processing and drop-off center, Gramling said. The new facility would also provide areas for electronic and hazardous waste.

"It's everything in one spot," Gramling said. "We're trying to make things more efficient and more convenient for people."

The new station is being built with revenue from fees collected at the station. Gramling said he hopes fee increases won't be required, but he wouldn't rule it out. The tonnage rate now is $52.25 per ton.

Gramling also believes the new operation will cause an increase in overall recycling. Many people bring cardboard -- one of the higher valued recyclable materials -- to the transfer station. But it was impractical to take it to the recycling center on Southern Expressway, so it ended up in the landfill.

In the new center, cardboard can be easily moved from the transfer station to the recycling center, he said.

The new center will also introduce recycling for demolition and construction debris, which the city has never offered.

Councilwoman Debra Tracy said Monday she sees the new facility as an important advancement.

"I think when things can be simplified, it's always progress," she said. "It will be similar to the wonderfully positive effects that the single-stream recycling system has had here."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

2500 block of South Sprigg Street, Cape Girardeau, MO