Landfill manager updates commissioners on hazardous-waste program, Pine Ridge Mall cleanup and recycling activity

Dylan Evans, Bannock County landfill manager, updated commissioners on multiple operational items including hazardous-waste disposal, ongoing work related to the Pine Ridge Mall site, compost inventory and potential optimization, planned bid openings for a scale house, and the county’s efforts to sell energy credits and recyclable metals.

Evans said the county is preparing a hazardous-waste section of the landfill for pesticides and herbicides collected through the county’s program and will participate in an Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) free collection program. He estimated the avoided cost if the county had contracted private disposal would be “in the ballpark of, like, 8 to $10,000.”

On the Pine Ridge Mall site, Evans said the county’s fee waiver arrangement has yielded about $107,000 in diverted or reduced fees so far and he expects “another load or 2” as contractors complete demolition. He asked the board to define when the demolition phase ends so the county can determine whether incoming material is still part of demolition (eligible under the waiver) or becomes construction-site material that should be charged. Evans said the county limited reuse to a single approved contractor to reduce ambiguity on which loads qualified for the waiver.

Evans described a large inventory of screened compost at the landfill and said the county could optimize turnover by occasionally renting or acquiring additional equipment (screeners or turners) to process material faster. He estimated the pile represents roughly “2 to 3 years worth of sale products” at current sales rates.

On capital projects and revenues, Evans said the county planned a bid opening for the scale house and expects bid results to come in below internal estimates. He also reported that energy-credit markets have softened: “they kind of have fallen out quite a bit,” he said, and noted the county holds roughly 20,000 of one type of credit and 12,000 of another; market prices discussed were roughly $1 to $5 per credit. Evans said the county intends to negotiate to move what it can now rather than hold while prices remain low.

Commissioners asked follow-up questions about contract end dates and timelines; Evans said staff will reach out to contractors and municipal partners to fix a date for demolition completion. No formal board action was recorded on the operational updates; the briefing was informational.