SOLID WASTE & HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

Solid Waste Collection and Disposal

The following information is designed to address questions from residents of El Dorado County about garbage rates and waste management fees assessed on property within the County, and solid waste collection and disposal.

Garbage Collection Franchise History      Top

El Dorado County, the City of Placerville, and the City of South Lake Tahoe have entered into franchise agreements with solid waste companies, which provide solid waste collection, recycling, and disposal.

During the 1950's, garbage collection franchise areas were established within portions of the County, and private companies were issued exclusive contracts to haul garbage within these assigned areas. By evolution, exclusive contracts were deemed necessary to insure organized, cost effective, and efficient service throughout the County. In 1971, a "redistricting" of the franchise areas was passed by County Ordinance. The Ordinance created (7) distinct garbage collection areas or corridors based on such factors as road and bridge infrastructure, proximity to landfill sites, etc. These franchise areas remain in effect today. The Franchise companies and service areas are noted on the table below: The County, with the assistance of a consultant, has conducted a rate audit of three of the franchise companies.

El Dorado County
Solid Waste Collection Franchises    Top

El Dorado County Landfill History      Top

Until approximately 1973, there were at least 21 known small dumps (now called landfills) throughout the County. Most were unattended burn dumps where a person or entity could burn their trash and garbage. There were one or more burn dumps in Camino, El Dorado, Lotus, El Dorado Hills, Finnon Lake, Fresh Pond, Garden Valley, Georgetown, Greenwood, Kyburz, Meeks Bay, Meyers, Omo Ranch, Outingdale, Park Creek, Pilot Hill, Placerville, Silver Lake, Somerset and Wrights Lake. Because of air pollution control laws, capacity problems and varying neighborhood opposition, by 1975, all but the Union Mine Landfill were ordered closed.

Some of the former publicly owned landfills have now been discovered to have subsurface contamination. For example, vinyl chloride in concentrations 100 times the drinking water standard has been recently found in groundwater under the Meyer's Landfill which has been closed since 1971. An on-going site investigation and cleanup has been ordered. To date, the U.S. Forest Service, County and City of So. Lake Tahoe have spent over $600,000 investigating this site. The clean up and monitoring process for this site will require an additional expenditure of several million dollars.

Landfills in the 1990's      Top

In the past and in a more rural environment "any old canyon" or the "back 40" would suffice for a dump and the cost of disposal was essentially "free". A barrage of new laws, generated both at the Federal and State level, have now been passed which dictate how all landfills are sited, constructed, operated, closed and monitored even after closure. Obviously, previous generations cannot be assessed and these recent mandates are now paid for by current residents.

New landfills or expansions to existing landfills must have a clay and plastic underliner and a mechanism to collect and treat "leachate", i.e. rainfall or groundwater which becomes polluted after leaching through garbage. Closed landfills must be retrofitted with a four (4) foot soil, clay and synthetic impervious "cap" and incorporate landfill gas control measures. A subsurface soils and groundwater study is required for many of the 21 known closed sites.

Operating landfills must also implement programs to monitor potential groundwater contamination. For example, the County's Union Mine landfill has installed 18 groundwater monitoring wells around the site which must be tested periodically for potential contamination. Run-off around and adjacent to the Union Mine landfill including Martinez Creek is also monitored and tested periodically for chemical contamination and biological and fisheries impact. The current annual cost to conduct the Union Mine water monitoring program is approx. $150,000/yr.

The groundwater monitoring program at Union Mine is exceptionally complex because of the approx. 20,000 ft. of mine shafts dug during the 1800's under and adjacent to the landfill site--the Union Mine area was historically one of the more active gold mine sites in the County. The mine workings about the Union Mine property have historically discharged mine wastewater which contains naturally occurring arsenic from the arsenic pyrite within the gold bearing quartz. The County has recently "plugged" the on-site mines to reduce and stop the uncontrolled discharges of groundwater passing through the mine openings.

Hazardous Waste in El Dorado County      Top

The citizen's of El Dorado County including industry, government, agriculture and residential sources are not large generators of hazardous waste. The majority (90+%) of the hazardous waste stream in El Dorado County consists of waste oil, old paint and lead acid car batteries. There are now at least 21 public waste oil collection sites are now open 7 days/week which the County, in part, has funded. But, for old paint and car batteries as well as for uncommon items such as expired or banned pesticides, herbicides, solvents, paint strippers, etc., the County has previously implemented periodic one day collection events. However, in the interest of both cost effectiveness and convenience, the County in a cooperative arrangement with the El Dorado Hills Fire Department, Lake Valley Fire Department, So. Tahoe Refuse Co., Inc. (So. Lake Tahoe) and Western El Dorado Recovery Systems, Inc. (Diamond Springs) have opened opening permanent collection facilities for hazardous waste. The County continues to conduct one day collection events in the more remote areas including Meek's Bay, Mt. Aukum and the Georgetown-Divide.

Additionally, all solid waste collected by the private franchises must now be screened for hazardous waste. This entails inspecting random loads and removing any hazardous waste noted and educating all landfill users of hazardous waste laws to insure that hazardous waste does not get buried at any landfill. This new requirement has also increased the cost of refuse collection.

Union Mine Status      Top

Landfill Issues

The Union Mine Disposal Site, comprised of 280 acres of public property, is the last remaining and active landfill property in the County. The existing permitted landfill unit is confined to 59.5 acres within the middle of the Union Mine property [a number of permits are required to operate a landfill including those from the State Integrated Waste Management, Regional Water Quality Control and Air Resources Boards]. In 1996, at a cost of $1.3 million dollars, the County opened and completed the first of six phases of landfill expansion at Union Mine.

However, during June of 1998, Waste Management, Inc. acquired the Lockwood Landfill near Reno, Nevada as well as El Dorado Disposal Co., Inc. and Western El Dorado Recovery Systems, Inc. of Diamond Springs. As a condition of purchase and as ordered by the Board of Supervisors, Waste Management, Inc., a multi-billion dollar corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas, agreed to wholly indemnify and financially protect the County from future claims of pollution. This indemnification provides crucial financial protection for the citizens of the County by defraying any future pollution liability to Waste Management, Inc. Such a contractual arrangement would have prevented El Dorado County's financial exposure to the Meyer's and Union Mine Landfill liability.

Septic Tank Waste (Liquid Waste)

From 1962 through 1988, septage (septic tank or "liquid waste") was hauled by private companies to Union Mine for disposal into on-site lagoons. In August 1988 and in response to new legislation, the unlined lagoons at Union Mine were ordered closed by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. El Dorado County's septage was then hauled to the Sacramento County Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility for disposal and treatment. In 1994, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors banned the import of "out of county" septage into their facilities. In response, the $8 million dollar "Union Mine Septage Treatment Facility" opened on April 1, 1996. The new treatment facilities at Union Mine also treat "leachate," a bi-product of rainfall leaching through refuse.

Mandated Recycling and Waste Reduction      Top

Assembly Bill 939 became law on January 1, 1990 and mandates that every County and City divert their waste from landfills 25% by 1995 and 50% by 2000 or face $10,000 per day fines. To accomplish these requirements, the County and the Cities have prepared and adopted an Integrated Waste Management Plan. This Plan has been developed by the El Dorado County Waste Management Task Force in a cooperative effort overseen by the respective city councils and the Board of Supervisors. The key to successful diversion includes an integrated approach including programs for source reduction, composting and recycling. To accomplish the waste diversion goals, the County franchises have built regional Material Recovery Facilities (MRF's). These facilities process solid wastes through a sorting line and recyclables are diverted to market.

The County is currently diverting approx. 40% of solid waste from landfills. Significant steps must still be taken to get us to the mandated 50% level. Additional infrastructure such as a potential Georgetown MRF, enhanced public education, better responsiveness by the public and more aggressive recycling will be essential to meet the mandate.

Rural Transfer Stations      Top

Sierra Disposal Service is proposing to build a small volume transfer station and recycling facility within the Georgetown/Divide area. Such a facility is imperative to combat illegal dumping and to provide convenient opportunities for disposal and the recycling of materials. Similar small scale facilities may also be proposed in other portions of the County.

Litter Pickup Program      Top

El Dorado County operates a roadside litter collection program. Litter is collected by permanent staff and low-risk inmates from the County Jail. Litter is collected along the County maintained roads and the State Highways. Because there are literally thousands of miles of County maintained roadways within the County, priority is given to the more heavily used roadways and those where significant accumulations of litter exist.

Department Environmental Health Specialists also enforce the County's solid waste ordinance. This ordinance governs the accumulation, storage, collection and disposal of solid waste generated on residential, commercial and industrial properties within the County. If you are aware of significant accumulations of litter along a County roadway, please contact us at 530-621-5300.

Program Funding      Top

The Union Mine projects and general waste management programs have been funded without debt service utilizing a host of funding mechanisms including franchise fees, tipping fees, Gate Fee surcharges, and parcel fees. Over the past 10 years, the County has invested over $20 million dollars in waste management programs primarily expenses associated with Union Mine. The annual solid waste parcel fee has been in place since 1989. The current fee is $17 per EDU (Equivalent Dwelling Unit) which has been stable since 1992. This annual fee cannot be increased without voter approval. Please note that larger waste generators such as supermarkets, shopping centers, restaurants, etc. are assessed a higher parcel fee via an EDU multiplier. The solid waste parcel fee generates approx. $1 million dollars per year.

There is also an annual household hazardous waste parcel fee of $3/EDU which is assessed Countywide. These funds help support the collection and disposal of hazardous waste at the El Dorado Hills Fire Station, Meyer's Fire Station and at one day events periodically held throughout the County.

Lastly, there is an annual $15 per parcel fee is assessed and collected on your annual tax bill (only those parcels serviced by a septic tank are assessed the fee). This revenue supported the capitalization of the $8 million dollar Union Mine septic tank treatment plant and now helps offset on-going operational costs. This facility was built with County rate payer funds and is where all the County septic tank pumpers deliver their septic tank waste. If your septic tank has never been pumped then you obviously save the +/-$300 fee charged by the septage haulers. As reflected in the chart below, it is substantially less costly to both construct and operate a septic tank system vs. a public sewerage system such as EID.  [Current EID fees over a ten year period]

Public Outreach      Top

In closing, any person interested in helping to formulate El Dorado County's waste management plan is encouraged to join the El Dorado County Waste Management Task Force. For further information or to schedule a presentation of the issues referenced in this update, please contact Gerri Silva at (530) 621-5300.