TRANSFER STATION IS NOW OPERATING IN INDUSTRIAL PARK

JACKSON -- Residents may not fully appreciate the city's new transfer station yet, but Mayor Paul Sander is prepared to be patient.

City officials and representatives of Allied Waste and its Lemons Waste Systems division cut the ribbon Tuesday for the new solid waste transfer station.

Disposing of solid waste is "a very difficult issue for cities to struggle with," Sander said, as landfill regulations get stricter and tipping fees continue to increase.

The city's landfill closed last October, and since then, solid waste has been shipped to the company's landfill in Dexter or to its transfer station in Cape Girardeau.

Having the transfer station in Jackson will mean a "substantial" savings for the city, Sander said, in terms of tipping fees, mileage and wear and tear and trucks over the next "10 or 20 years."

"It may not seem like a great big deal to the general public today, but they will come over time to realize this is a big deal" for the city, he said.

The transfer station is located on Lee Avenue in the city's industrial park.

Bob Doyle, district manager for Allied Waste, said he received authorization Friday from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to begin operating the transfer station.

"We have a nice facility, a modern, state-of-the-art facility," Doyle said, adding the transfer station doesn't include any "fancy, frilly items" that will help drive disposal costs up.

He said he expects the station to initially handle 50 to 60 tons of solid waste per day.

"Hopefully within the next year, we'll be up to 200 tons-plus per day," Doyle said, adding the company is "actively marketing" the transfer station to attract commercial and residential customers from surrounding communities.

Commercial haulers and residents will be able to dump their trash at the facility, he said.

The basic fee for residential waste is $33 per ton, with a 1-ton minimum.

The station will handle regular commercial, residential and construction wastes, Doyle said. Tires, yard waste, batteries, paints, oils and other substances that are banned from landfills cannot be accepted at the transfer station.

White goods will be accepted for a fee, and those items will be shipped to scrap yards in the region, he said.

As solid waste is brought into the station, staff will be "continuously operating" loading equipment, Doyle said. The waste will be "scooped up" and loaded onto 100-yard transfer trains and then shipped to the landfill in Dexter.

"It will be traveling up and down Highway 25," he said.

Allied Waste had originally purchased the city's landfill property, but decided against operating it when a geological study showed it was located on karst topography. The company's plans were deemed economically unfeasible, Doyle said.

"So we wound up with a transfer station," he said.

Penzel Construction built the facility.