Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 25, 1993 TAG: 9305250574
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
City Council on Monday agreed to a five-year contract with Chambers Development Co. to truck the city's trash to a private landfill in Amelia County near Richmond.
The contract means that Salem - at least for the near future - will not join Roanoke, Vinton and Roanoke County in developing a state-of-the-art regional landfill on Fort Lewis Mountain.
Mayor Jim Taliaferro said the decision came down to a simple matter of money.
The regional landfill would have charged Salem a one-time entry fee of $600,000 and tipping fees of at least $55 per ton for garbage.
Chambers will charge slightly less than $38 per ton to pick up the garbage in Salem, haul it to Amelia County and dispose of it there.
Taliaferro estimated that Salem would save about $2 million during the course of the contract.
City Manager Randy Smith described the contract with Chambers as a "short-term" solution that will give his staff time to explore its options once state regulations force Salem to close its municipal landfill at Mowles Spring Park on Oct. 9.
Smith said the city would move ahead with seeking a state permit to open a new landfill at the park that would include environmental features such as a protective plastic liner and leachate collection system.
Smith also said the city may begin a small-scale experiment with turning household garbage into compost material. Salem officials recently visited two Florida communities with composting operations.
In another major change, Smith announced that the city's garbage incinerator has been shut for repairs and may not return to service.
The incinerator, which came on line in 1978, needs at least $60,000 in repairs and would need additional modifications to meet future federal air-pollution standards. The city also has lost its market for steam generated by the incinerator because Yokohama Tire Corp. has added its own generation capacity.
Chambers, a Pittsburgh-based company, will begin hauling the city's trash when the Mowles Spring Park landfill closes.
The company's Amelia County landfill, which opened in February, covers 404 acres.
by CNB