Landfill Hearing Officer Reports Applicant Has Met Siting Criteria

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Published on February 23 2021 10:53 am
Last Updated on February 23 2021 3:23 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

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(THE SCENE AT THE LANDFILL HEARING IN JANUARY)

The officer who oversaw a two-day hearing on whether a new landfill should be sited outside Effingham has found that the applicant met its burden as to all nine siting criteria.

Larry Clark returned his report to the Effingham County Board on Monday. It will now be up to the County Board to decide whether the siting should be approved.

Effingham Crossroads Landfill wants to build a landfill just east of the existing Landfill 33, south off Illinois Route 33. The proposed operator of the new landfill also operates Landfill 33. 

The proposal is to develop a municipal solid waste landfill on approximately 120 acres with a waste footprint of almost 38 acres.

Here are the nine siting criteria:

--The facility is necessary to accommodate the waste needs of the area it is intended to serve

--The facility is so designed, located and proposed to be operated that the public health, safety and welfare will be protected

--The facility is located so as to minimize impact with the character of the surrounding area and to minimize the effect on the value of the surrounding property

--None of the waste boundaries are within the 100-year flood plain and the facility is flood proofed

--The Plan of Operations for the facility is designed to minimize the danger to the surrounding area from fires, spills or other operational accidents

--The traffic patterns to and from the facility are so designed as to minimize the impact on existing traffic flows

--The facility will not be treating, storing or disposing of hazardous waste

--If the facility is to be located in a county where the County Board has adopted a Solid Waste Management Plan consistent with the planning requirement of the local Solid Waste Disposal Act or the Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act, the facility is consistent with that plan

--The facility is not located in a regulated recharge area

While finding that Effingham Crossroads Landfill has met its burden regarding the nine criteria, Clark makes recommendations to the County Board.

Those include that the landfill owner or operator has to maintain any plant material placed to screen the landfill from the neighbors, that proper horns be installed on landfill equipment, and that the property valuation guarantee shall be offered to the owners of all residences located within 500 feet of the landfill property and specifically include the Dan and Darlene Borries and the Rick and Deb Stumeier residences. The guarantee would only be available to the current owners. Other proposed conditions would provide a water truck to control dust, and that at least three load checks would be performed per week. 

The property valuation guarantee would be offered in case the landfill would damage the value of the neighboring properties.

Now that Clark's recommendations have been received, it'll be up to the County Board to decide whether the siting should be approved. If the Board approves the siting, the question then goes to the Illinois EPA.