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Solid waste plan discussed

By BEN NELMS
bnelms@TheCitizen.com

It was an empty meeting room at Fulton County’s Stonewall Tell facility Sept. 19 as Public Works staff and consultants explained the contents of a draft of the county’s Solid Waste Management Plan.

R.W. Beck Senior Consultant Abby Goldsmith conducted the meeting, attended by only one resident of unincorporated Fulton County. Toni Thornton attended to represent Bear Creek Homeowners Association.

The Sept. 19 meeting was the second of two public meetings held in South Fulton. With an October deadline for completion, the plan will be submitted by the county commission to Atlanta Regional Commission and then to Georgia Dept. of Community Affairs for approval.

The Solid Waste Management Plan must be submitted every 10 years with approval contingent on receiving state grants, loans and permits for solid waste and recycling programs and facilities.

Goldsmith said a new feature of the proposed plan is found in the Land Limitation Element portion of the plan. She said as written, no facility or expansion can be approved without a letter from the county commission stating that the facility is consistent with the Solid Waste Management Plan. The plan calls for the Board of Commissioners to hold at least one public hearing prior to making its determination. If the facility is deemed inconsistent the applicant may amend the request and resubmit it.

To meet the criteria for consistency, developers of projects proposing a new facility or the expansion of an existing facility must successfully address eight conditions. The project must demonstrate that it meets the goals and needs identified in the Solid Waste Management Plan, it must show how the community will be impacted, it must address the impact on the financial viability of the existing solid waste management system and it must delineate the impact of individual and business solid waste management rates. Other conditions to be addressed include how the owner/operator will provide financial assurance, the impact on natural or cultural resources in the planning area, the site suitability based on criteria in the plan and whether the project is consistent with the zoning ordinance.

Also attending the meeting, Fulton County Solid Waste Manager Anthony Spencer said the county disposed of nearly 292,000 tons of solid waste in 2004, equal to 6.54 pounds per person. Another part of the waste disposal stream, the collection of construction and demolition (C&D) waste was quite high. Fulton County disposed of 330,166 tons of C&D debris in 2004, he said. That figure is the equivalent of 7.48 pounds per person, more than three times the state average.

There is currently one Municipal Solid Waste landfill and three C&D landfills operating in Fulton County. Ninety-two percent of solid waste collected in Fulton is sent to three private landfill in DeKalb, Forsyth and Cherokee counties. Goldsmith said capacity in the region can easily handle the county’s waste stream at the current disposal rates. The situation with C&D debris is another issue, she said.

“At current generation rates there is not enough space in the existing C&D landfills to handle the construction and demolition debris that will comes out of Fulton County in the next 10 years. These numbers show us, the way we calculate it, if we keep generating it like we currently are we’re talking about 41 million cubic yards and there is about 33 million tons of capacity in the C&D landfills we are currently using.”

Goldsmith said overall disposal rates have decreased in recent years, with disposal rates in 2004 approximately 30 lower than in the 1992 plan. Waste haulers are required by county ordinance to offer curbside recycling and the state database lists nearly 50 businesses in fulton County that accept recyclables.

Residents can review the draft plan at the Fulton County website at www.co.fulton.ga.us/public_works2/default.htm.

A copy of the plan can be obtained by contacting Anthony Spencer at the Solid Waste Department at 404-730-8013 or by e-mail at Anthony.Spencer@co.fulton.ga.us.