Waste Management outlines 2025 upgrades and potential north-side expansion; wetlands approval will determine footprint

Waste Management representatives updated the Franklin City Committee (meeting date not specified) on operations, planned 2025 construction and infrastructure upgrades, and a potential northern expansion of the landfill footprint that is contingent on wetland approvals and host-agreement documentation. The committee approved the Waste Management report by voice vote.

Fred, speaking for Waste Management, said the company plans to install a new flare in 2025 and issued an RFP this week for construction of a new cell. In recent months the site upgraded eight pumping panels from radio to fiber communications and replaced a large section of header pipe on the North 60 Hill that draws landfill gas. "We're looking to put in a new flare in 2025," Fred said, and added that the company finished infrastructure work that should make communications and leachate pumping more consistent.

Fred described site operations moving into winter conditions and said the company expects to remain in the same working cell for several months while preparing for next year's cell construction. He outlined preliminary work on a possible north-side expansion and said he reviewed the host agreement exhibits; one map (Exhibit B) appeared out of date but Exhibit A contains a yellow fill area that "supersedes what's ever on this map according to the host agreement," he said. Waste Management owns most of the property in the mapped area except for a nearby AT&T tower and a junkyard, he added.

The expansion proposal faces multiple constraints: federal and state wetland approvals, potential purchase or use of wetland mitigation credits, and review by the state's solid waste department. Fred said preliminary conversations with ATC (the transmission owner) provided a ballpark cost to relocate power lines if required; when asked about cost he quipped, "It's called money."

Leachate and pretreatment volumes were discussed. Fred said pump-off volumes can vary widely: on heavy-rain days the site can pump about 50,000 gallons off-site; the volume routed through the pretreatment plant is lower, typically "maybe 10 to 20,000 gallons." He also described that much of the leachate now comes from the northeast expansion area (an open cell) rather than the older, capped hill.

Fred said the company expects the expansion review and permitting process to take multiple years and estimated a 5-to-7-year process from wetlands review through approvals, while acknowledging that long-term planning could seek a 15-year footprint depending on permitting and future tonnage. He also announced a staffing change: Brett will take on more daily operations responsibilities at Metro and a staff member named Mikaela has been in a corporate training program for seven months.

A committee member moved to approve Waste Management's report; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The transcript records approval by ayes without individual roll-call tallies.