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Trash imports growing again
More out-of-state trash piling up in Virginia landfills
Date published: 6/15/2007
By RUSTY DENNEN
Virginia's landfills, including the area's largest in King George County, remain prime destinations for out-of-state trash.
That's according to a new state report that says total trash imports grew 3.5 percent last year to 7.2 million tons. That's a departure from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's 2005 report, in which the amount of imported trash fell by 9.8 percent.
"We don't have a thorough answer as to why we're seeing more, although we've been seeing that overall trend since 1999," DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden said yesterday.
The drop in 2005 was due to smaller shipments by Maryland, and high fuel prices.
Most of the material going into landfills statewide is either municipal solid waste or construction-related materials. Landfills reported that about 5 percent of trash was recycled or turned into mulch. Waste of all types dumped in 198 licensed Virginia landfills last year totaled 25.1 million tons.
According to the report, five jurisdictions account for 96 percent of the trash coming into Virginia. Maryland sends the most, 42 percent of the total, followed by New York at 24.5 percent, Washington, D.C., 17 percent, North Carolina, 6.9 percent, and New Jersey, 5.2 percent.
The King George Landfill, operated by Waste Management Inc., is the only Fredericksburg-area site that accepts out-of-state waste.
Of the 1.2 million tons it handled last year, 971,750 were imported. That compares to 964,386 tons accepted in 2005.
The trash earns millions of dollars for the company and the county. Waste Management reported paying fees of $21.2 million last year to localities hosting its six Virginia landfills.
King George was second only to Atlantic Waste Disposal's Sussex County Landfill in the amount of trash handled. The Sussex site took in 2.8 million tons from all sources.
Trash imports have been a political issue in Virginia for years. There have been attempts to limit them, but they haven't gotten anywhere because the U.S. Constitution says interstate commerce is a federal issue.
Because of that, individual states cannot regulate out-of-state wastes. Virginia supports legislation that has been introduced in Congress since 2005, but nothing has been passed.
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
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The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality annual report lists the following area landfills, and amount of waste dumped in 2006:
King George Sanitary Landfill--1.2 million tons.
Fauquier County landfills (two sites)--145,518 tons.
Rappahannock Regional Landfill in Stafford--141,812 tons.
Spotsylvania Livingston Landfill--59,976 tons.
Orange County Landfill--27,543 tons.
Caroline, Culpeper and Westmoreland counties are not on the list because they use transfer stations to send trash to other landfills.
deq.virginia.gov |
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Date published: 6/15/2007
Most recent reader comments:
its all about the money
(posted by
1eviltwin
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
Enough said its all about money and employing thousands of people in VA..the business of waste is a billion dollar a year business..Its one thing we will never do with out there is always going to be trash and the need to dispose of it..atleast its being done as clean as possible also landfill gas which is a renewable resource that is clean burning is about to be converted into a power station..to supply eletricity..
Good Deal?
(posted by
Ranko
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
Wow what a great deal New York sends Virginia all this nice trash and pays us to take it and in return we send them plenty of guns so they can control their streets. And they pay us for those too.
Why are we accepting New York's Trash when Bumburg is setting up stings in our state. Cut him off and his so called perfect city as stated on NBC the other night. It's all about the money.
Virginia - 'the trash state'...
(posted by
Blk97F150
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
Yeah, thats a title that we really want for this state. Whats not mentioned in the article is the large number of trash carrying trucks up and down the I95 corridor, the way they drive, the way the trucks are maintained (they aren't), and the way they fail to contain all that trash that ultimately ends up on the shoulders of the road. And the 'best' part... Virginia taxpayers end up footing the bill for clean up.
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