Black Hawk County Solid Waste Commission outlines shift from disposal to resource recovery, seeks outreach coordinator
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Summary
Brian Heath, chairperson of the Black Hawk County Solid Waste Management Commission, and landfill administrator John Foster told the county Board of Supervisors the commission is shifting from landfill disposal toward resource recovery, described an existing landfill-gas-to-transportation-fuel project and asked supervisors for staff, policy and bond support for upcoming capital work.
Brian Heath, chairperson of the Black Hawk County Solid Waste Management Commission, and John Foster, the commission’s landfill administrator, told the Board of Supervisors that the commission is shifting from a narrow landfill-disposal focus to broader resource-recovery projects, and asked supervisors to consider staff and policy support for the effort.
The presentation noted the commission owns the landfill and manages waste flow for most of Black Hawk County. “We were established basically in 1974,” Foster said, describing the commission’s history. Heath said the commission is “looking at resource recovery rather than just landfill operations,” and described recent investments and planning for future work.
The commission reported it now has roughly eight years of constructed landfill airspace and about 25 years of permitted airspace that would require capital investment to build out. Foster said the commission receives about 2,000 tons of waste per year and serves five counties. He told supervisors the commission does not use general-taxpayer funding for operations, relying instead on user fees and contract arrangements.
Foster described a public–private landfill-gas project that captures methane and markets it as a transportation fuel. He said the project represents roughly a $20 million private investment in the community and added both construction and permanent jobs. The commission said the gas-collection work was done preemptively to meet future regulatory needs and to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from the landfill.
Commission staff reviewed diversion and materials-recovery issues, including inconsistent recycling acceptance criteria among four local processors and multiple haulers, which complicates public education. Foster said the commission is pursuing unified messaging and examining local processing opportunities, naming the local plastics firm ADS as an example of a potential end-user for recycled materials.
The commission runs two semiannual household-hazardous-waste events (May 3 at Waterloo and Sept. 6 at the City of Cedar Falls public works facility) and supports educational outreach including two Green Iowa AmeriCorps positions. Foster said the commission is the employer of record only for its administrator and that most landfill workers are employed by the contractor, Waste Tech Inc., which he said operates the facility with about 12 employees.
Commissioners said they will soon face decisions about whether to continue contracting out operations, bring more functions in-house, or adopt a hybrid approach. Foster told supervisors he expects a study to present options next month and that constructing new landfill cells could cost $10 million to $15 million.
Supervisors and commission staff discussed a proposed education and outreach coordinator position to be hired by the commission but carried on the county payroll for benefits administration. Human Resources Director Amanda Sutchinger explained the county’s policy for allowing local-agency employees to participate in the county group health plan at COBRA rates and noted the county typically passes payroll and benefit premiums through to the sponsoring agency. The board asked for more information on administrative costs and on how claims under the county’s self-insured plan would be handled before making a final decision; the supervisors did not approve the benefit arrangement at the meeting and agreed to address outstanding questions at a later session.
Supervisors and commission staff also discussed safety risks at material-processing facilities caused by lithium-ion batteries in the recycling stream and the commission’s support for extended-producer-responsibility legislation to require better end-of-life management for rechargeable batteries.
The presentation closed with the commission asking that at least one supervisor remain regularly engaged with the commission because of the technical and financial complexity of forthcoming decisions. Heath and Foster said they will return with more detailed cost and schedule information on staffing, bonding, and operation-model options.
Ending: The board did not take action on staffing or strategy at this meeting. Commission staff will provide additional details, and supervisors indicated they want more time and specific financial estimates before changing contracting or benefit arrangements.
