City plans $1.9 million to relocate ‘trash mountain’ at landfill, a backup of waste from previous delays
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Just under $2 million will likely have to be spent by the city to move a massive pile of waste built-up as a result of previous cell construction delays and increased tonnage at the St. Joseph Sanitary Landfill.
City Councilmembers will review an ordinance for first reading at tonight's City Council meeting to authorize a $1.9 million project to relocate "trash mountain" from temporary storage at the St. Joseph Sanitary Landfill to the new Cell 8 opened this year.
"Trash mountain," a buildup of roughly 400,000 to 500,000 cubic yards of trash, is the byproduct of a yearslong capacity situation that nearly hit a breaking point last November, when a combination of cell construction delays and a huge increase in yearly waste put the landfill on the brink of a soft closure.
Delays in construction of Cell 8 beginning in 2022 were compounded by an increase in waste from 110,000 tons each year to nearly 215,000, depleting space and forcing the city to request waivers with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for additional temporary storage until enough room was made available upon completion of Cell 8 in June.
"So DNR compromised with us and we're going to get started on moving that. We wanted to delay the relocation of (trash mountain) until it was cooler outside so the smell was down," St. Joseph Public Works and Transportation Director Abe Forney said.
If approved by City Council, MCON will be tasked with carrying out another expedited and costly landfill project for the City, or risk fines from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources if temporary waste isn't relocated in time.
MCON was contracted by the city to finish development of the aforementioned Cell 8, a $1.1 million project successfully finished earlier this year despite challenging weather conditions during construction, including subzero temperatures in the winter and rain and mud in the spring.
"We're going to start getting fines if we don't get that trash moved. So we had to expedite this," Forney said. "But the vertical expansion we were approved for, we only have to move some of that trash."
Forney said the city will be required to move roughly 84,000 of the 400,000 to 500,000 cubic yards of waste in trash mountain. For comparison, Cell 8 is designed hold 1,669,000 cubic yards of waste.
Construction crews are actively working on excavation and development of the next Cell 9 to ensure enough space is available moving forward. Cell 9 will include 1,764,000 cubic yards of airspace, an increase of 100,000 cubic yards from Cell 8.
An ordinance for the project on Monday's agenda shows $1.9 million will be used from the city's landfill fund for relocation, which currently has a positive balance of $21,317,542.
"Due to staffing shortages and time constraints, the City solicited bids for a contractor to provide all necessary labor, materials, tools, and equipment required to transfer waste from Trash Mountain into Cell 8," the ordinance states.
