Rising costs fuel demand for transfer station plan
Truckers support, Waste Options fights Reis initiative
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
The skyrocketing cost of taking construction trash to the landfill has driven three of the island's major haulers to truck materials to the mainland for disposal.

And for the second time in two years, one of those companies has applied with the state and town to open a private transfer station for construction and demolition debris, a move strongly opposed by landfill operator Waste Options Nantucket.

Just prior to the Board of Health's first public hearing on Dec. 20 to assess the suitability of a Bunker Road site for a 10,000 square-foot transfer facility proposed by Myles Reis Jr., Waste Options President Whitney Hall sent a letter to the town administrator outlining objec- tions to the project. On Jan. 3, Reis filed a response to that letter which was one of several articles placed into evidence at a third public hearing last Friday, Jan. 4. At that session, sworn testimonies were given in support of the new facility by Reis, Toscana Corporation owner Carl Jelleme, trucker Nat Lowell and builder Curtis Barnes. At the next hearing on Jan. 29, testimonies are anticipated from Waste Options officials and P & M Reis Trucking, Inc. manager Charlie O'Neil.

The Board of Health is charged with determining whether, after considering public health and environmental concerns, the Bunker Road location is suitable for the unloading and transfer of construction and demolition (c & d) materials. The state's Department of Environmental Protection has already given preliminary approval of the site for this use.

Expressed by both the opponent and the several proponents of the project, moreover, are the issues of economics and competition.

In 2002, after a change of environmental law prohibited direct dumping of c & d in state landfills, the local per ton tipping fee for the materials went from $97 to $137 to cover construction of a special, enclosed c & d building and waste handling. After the state subsequently banned all disposal of c & d in state landfills, including within lined cells, the materials had to be shipped away to facilities permitted to accept the waste. That drove the tipping fee to $344 per ton to cover the town's cost for trucking and disposal, as well as a payment to Waste Options of $170 per ton.

In his testimony last Friday, Jelleme, who applied two years ago to open a transfer station on Bunker Road but withdrew the proposal, stated that he has been hauling his company's c & d offisland for the last year to avoid the landfill price.

"It's just plain economics," he explained, saying the tipping fee has gone from exorbitant to out-of-hand. "It's cheaper for the customer. It doesn't take $300 a ton to load it in the truck. It's absolutely insane what's being charged out there. [To solve the problem] it's pretty simple - competition."

Jelleme said that in May 2006 the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determined that his company's application for the facility was "administratively incomplete" and "nitpicked it to death," but then said, "that's not why we stopped this process. We could have gone back and fixed everything."

According to Jelleme, the primary reason he pulled the application was that Waste Options co-owner Charlie Gifford said he would do all he could to stop the project, followed by the fact that the airport, which owns the Bunker Road land, wanted to levy a fee-per-ton of material handled at the facility on top of the cost of the land lease.

Also at the Jan. 4 meeting, Lowell raised a number of issues, but one of his main concerns is that big trucks full of c & d going to the landfill have to travel through the high school intersection and up Prospect Street to get to Madaket Road, a route that exacerbates traffic problems in the summer. He believes the Bunker Road site off Milestone Road is more accessible for the trucks and, in turn, will cost companies and customers less because of time saved.

"It's all a variety of ways costs come back to the town," he said. "If I was the town I'd be saying I'd be glad to get rid of this headache."

Barnes told the board that he is also concerned about truck traffic, but stressed that compared to 15 years ago when he budgeted $500 to $600 a year to haul c & d to the landfill, now he has to budget $2,000 and pass the increase on to his customers.

"I think we have an obligation to manage costs to the community," said Barnes, adding that Saturday trash container pick-ups and not being restricted by landfill hours are attractive points for the private operation.

Reis testified that he, too, began trucking his own c & d to the mainland a year ago with the exception of small loads. Reis, who has applied to be able to receive 49 tons of c & d daily at the transfer station, said he anticipates he would take in about half the material going to the landfill, and that he estimates he can handle the operation at a $260 per ton tipping fee.

Citing what he termed "extremely high" costs for c & d at the landfill that would not be tolerated on an open market, Reis said, "I'm asking to be that [open market] and lower it. I feel this facility I want to do will more than break even with only my trash. It makes sense."

Reis added that when he applied to DEP approximately a year ago he was not aware of any discussion between Waste Options and the town to investigate using gasification at the landfill, a method that could ostensibly eliminate the need to truck c & d away and could produce electricity. The diversion of c & d from the landfill is one of the points stressed in Waste Options' November letter, but Reis tempered that concern when speaking to the board.

"I don't believe gasification exists right now, [but] if they can compete with me [with gasification of c & d] the market would drive the c & d back to the he said, later noting that if his facility is unsuccessful its failure would not be a cost burden to the town. "The people will go where the best market is. Competition is a great thing in the United States."

That position was echoed by Philip Marks III, owner of Atlantic AEolus, who is the third major hauler taking his own c & d to the mainland. Marks also testified in support of Reis's proposal on Thursday, Jan. 3.

"I've been taking my stuff off for about a year. Competition is good. The people of Nantucket will benefit from competition," he said. "As for the location, it's better than on Long Pond (adjacent to the landfill). That's never been good. I think Bunker Road is a better place. It's all about the environment. The health department is supposed to be dealing with it that way."

Principals of Waste Options want the board to take a broader view of the proposal and how it could affect the company's obligations to the town. Hall gave the Board of Selectmen a presentation on gasification at a September meeting, after which it was to be a continuing topic of discussion. Recently, the town approved a contract for a consultant to explore the feasibility of gasification at the landfill and options for its operation and financing.

In his letter, Hall emphasized that a private facility would be in direct competition with the town which reaps monies in excess of expenses for trash handling. Noting that commercial customers brought more than 11,000 tons of c & d to the landfill in FY07, Hall's figures are based on the assumption that all commercial c & d will become diverted to the private station. If that happens, Hall wrote, it would cost the town roughly $955,000, or $330,000 more per year to dispose of c & d if the landfill only received small resident loads which are not charged a tipping fee.

Addressing gasification, Hall pointed out that the island's waste stream is already too limited for many waste to energy systems, a situation that would be affected detrimentally if the majority of the c & d is eliminated. He noted that financing for a gasification plant would hinge on a guaranteed revenue from tipping fees, which would not be possible with a competing facility in operation. Hall also stated that the town has the legal authority to require that all c & d be brought to the landfill, something that would be necessary if a gasification system is built. Going one step further, Hall said if the town requires that all c & d go to the landfill, Waste Options will waive the tipping fee paid to it for the first 2,000 tons of c & d per year in excess of 13,000 tons.

"We are going to do everything in our power legally to stop them - of course we are," Waste Options coowner Gifford said of the private proposal. "We've worked very hard. We have an integrated waste management system that's going to be destroyed. I have an obligation to defend the 20 million dollars spent at that facility by the town and Waste Options. Any businessman has an obligation to do what he can to defend his business legitimately, and I also have a contract with

the Town of Nantucket to defend this enterprise." I