Editor’s note: This article was updated to include comments from Waste Solutions. Lea este articulo en español aquí.
John Smith Road Landfill operator Waste Solutions on March 21 withdrew its appeal of the San Benito County Planning Commission’s decision to not certify the environmental impact report and conditional use permit for the proposed expansion of the landfill.
Waste Solutions did not state a reason for its decision in the letter it submitted to the county. Curt Fujii, regional engineer with Waste Connections told BenitoLink it was a business decision.
“For us the next step is we’re going to honor our contract and our obligations to the county in terms of continuing to operate the landfill until closure,” he said.
He added the landfill has 13 years of capacity.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to consider the appeal March 26.
The proposed landfill expansion has been a source of controversy. Those who oppose it have raised concerns about air, noise and water pollution, as well as its impact on nearby roads from trucks transporting waste from outside the county.
Waste Solutions has said it is not financially feasible to operate the landfill without accepting out-of-county trash. When the landfill reached a 15-year capacity for in-county trash, the county stopped accepting out-of-county trash in March 2022.
The Planning Commission denied certification of the environmental report because it found the revenue benefit did not outweigh the impacts in greenhouse gasses, air quality and aesthetics.
The planners also rejected a required conditional use permit and a proposed amendment to the county’s General Plan, which serves as the county’s blueprint for growth.
The project proposes to expand the existing 95-acre landfill to 483 acres. According to the project’s environmental impact report, this would increase the 58-acre waste footprint to 311 acres. The altitude would increase from 920 to 949 feet, meaning the landfill would be higher than the surrounding hills. Also, the waste tonnage limit would increase from 1,000 tons per day to up to 2,300 tons per day.
The landfill is owned by the county and has been operated by Waste Solutions since 2005.
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