Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct a statement stating both landfills accepted the same amount of waste. Last update April 12 at 12:10 p.m. Lea este articulo en español aquí.
With 13 years of capacity left for the John Smith Road Landfill and the expansion project seemingly rejected, the landfill operator says the county has just one other option—build a transfer station. San Benito County Supervisor Dom Zanger disagrees.
Waste Connections Regional Engineer Curt Fujii told BenitoLink the community needs to analyze the cost to build a transfer station, how to pay for it and where it will be located.
“It’s infrastructure that the county needs to provide an essential public health service, which is proper management of solid waste,” Fujii said.
Regarding the remaining 13 years of landfill lifespan, he said it’s not a lot of time.
“If you ever tried to permit any kind of solid waste facility, whether it’s a transfer station or a landfill, that is not too much time,” Fujii said.
In January 2022, The San Benito County Board of Supervisors rejected the request to apply for a transfer station permit from Waste Solutions Group, a subsidiary of Waste Connections. When presenting the request, market area manager for Waste Solutions Paul Nelson told the supervisors the operator would pay the costs.
However, Zanger, whose district includes the landfill, told BenitoLink there are more options than what Fujii presents, though he did not want to discuss specifics that might get him into “legal binds” in case the project comes back. He noted the county owns property adjacent to the landfill.
At the BenitoLink Primary Election Forum in February, he told the audience he opposed the expansion and called it a “short-term win with long-term loss” but was open to a “more modest expansion with a different operating agreement.”
Zanger also told BenitoLink he needed to study Watsonville’s model more, which he also referenced at the election forum. Watsonville and San Benito County have roughly the same population.
Watsonville’s landfill is similar to John Smith Road Landfill in size.
According to a news release by the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank), Watsonville received a $6 million loan to build a new 7.1-acre landfill site, which is Phase Four of its 103-acre landfill plan.
Watsonville’s landfill uses 48 acres for disposal, compare to 58 at John Smith Road Landfill. However, San Benito County is permitted to accept 1,000 tons of waste a day to accommodate out-of-county trash while Watsonville is limited to 275.
According to the IBank staff report when the loan was approved, Watsonville’s landfill is expected to receive 60 tons of waste per day from the city. San Benito County produces about 200 tons a day that is disposed at the John Smith Road Landfill.
The John Smith Road Landfill stopped accepting out-of-county trash in March 2022 when it reached its 15-year capacity for in-county-trash.
BenitoLink attempted several times to contact Watsonville Public Works, which oversees the landfill, to ask if the landfill is only used by its residents but has not received a response.
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