Landfill sale’s negative impacts

On October 27 the County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to
vote on a proposed Purchase and Sale Agreement with Republic
Services, an Arizona-based corporation, for the Central Landfill
and other County waste sites. Selling the solid waste system would
permanently transfer an irreplaceable asset from public to
corporate ownership. We’ve regretted doing this with our community
hospital; let’s not do it again. Concerned business owners and
other citizens should urge County Supervisors to reject this
proposed deal.
The proposed agreement would undermine our long term
environmental and economic goals in many ways. The proposed
contract promises to increase waste disposal costs to residents,
and would thwart Sonoma County’s ability to meet its greenhouse gas
reduction targets. It would remove options for the future and
diminish this community’s green reputation and legacy.
Flaws in the proposed agreement include:
1. Rates for rural residents, contractors, and other
self-haulers (30 percent of the County’s waste stream) will not be
regulated. Republic could raise dump fees at will as well as reduce
service at transfer stations at any time and could after five years
close the stations provided the County approves. Alternatively,
Republic could lower dump fees and could put small local haulers
and waste processers out of business.
2. Greenhouse gas (GHG) from organics, the main source of solid
waste emissions, is inadequately addressed making it very unlikely
that Sonoma County will meet its GHG emission reduction target in
the solid waste sector.
3. A ‘put or pay’ clause in the agreement creates a disincentive
for recycling and removes possible savings from generating less
waste.
4. More than $100 million will be drained from Sonoma County’s
economy in the form of profits for Arizona-based Republic
Services.
5. The County and cities would continue to have exposure to
liability for off-site environmental effects of the Central
Landfill for ten years.
Cities should also be concerned about the County signing the
proposed agreement. According to an attorney who has read all 600
pages of the proposed agreement, the County would assign Republic
the right to sue cities if they do not allow Republic control of
their flow of solid waste.
The County argues that it does not have the resources to deal
with the landfill while Republic does. Republic is motivated by
profit not charity to purchase Sonoma County’s landfill. Republic
will not only charge County ratepayers to deal with landfill
problems, as the County would, but Republic will charge more to
ensure a return for its shareholders.
The question needs to be asked whether Republic is a worthy
partner to take control of Sonoma County’s solid waste. According
to a recent Newsweek rating of the nation’s 500 largest firms on
the basis of their environmental record and leadership, Republic
Services ranked near the bottom at 448. (Exxon-Mobil was 395;
Phillip Morris was 406.)
Better options exist to meet near-term disposal needs and
regulatory deadlines. The County can turn its proposed Operations
and Disposal Agreements with Republic into an RFP to ensure the
County is getting the best value for this service. The County can
also show regulatory agencies that there is a good faith effort to
resolve the closure liability issue by putting a closure surcharge
back on the tipping fee, as well as making a commitment to work in
concert with Regional Water Quality Control Board staff and the
cities to develop a solution.
The analysis of the proposed agreement with Republic services is
available online: www.climateprotectioncampaign.org/landfill/.
Email addresses for the County Board of Supervisors and city
elected leaders are also available at this site.
For the sake of Sonoma County’s economy and environment, we urge
business people and other residents to contact County Supervisors
now and ask them to reject the proposed deal with Republic
Services.
– Tony Crabb and Barbara Grasseschi, Puma Springs Vineyards,
Healdsburg; Dennis Judd, Registered Environmental Health
Specialist, Sebastopol; and Bob Baba, Ideal Hardware,
Forestville.