Waste Management Inc. will be transporting
its recycled materials to Spokane following a change to Chinese import laws.
In July, the Chinese government notified the
World Trade Organization that it plans to stop importing 24 kinds of materials,
including types of unsorted paper and plastic typically sent from the U.S.
“It includes yogurt containers to pizza boxes
as contamination because there’s no use for it when they’re greasy,” said County
Solid Waste Director Patti Johnson. “The change will affect Seattle more than
us.”
Right now, recycled materials that are
brought to the Kittitas County stations are trucked by Waste Management to
Woodinville in King County. That waste is then transported to Seattle for final
shipment to Chinese markets.
Waste Management will be shipping recycling
to Spokane by the end of the year. Johnson said there will be no discernible
change in cost to the county.
NEW SITE UNDER DISCUSSION
Meanwhile, the county is looking for a new
location for the Ellensburg transfer station on Industrial Way. The lower
county site, which serves people from Elk Heights to Vantage, has had problems
with flooding and limited space while struggling to keep up with increasing
demand.
The county is evaluating proposed sites at a
cement plant site off of I-90, a site at Bowers Field Airport, and a site west
of Berry Road near Tjossem Road.
No decision has been made. The county has
been accepting input from the public online and during public meetings.
SEPTIC WASTE
Meanwhile, the county is having difficulties
improving the screening process for accepting septic waste, Johnson said.
The county currently takes in about about 1.2
million gallons of septic waste a year, Johnson said.
Cleaning the bar screen that the septic waste
flows through can be difficult. The screen's holes are only 3/8 inches wide,
Johnson said, and dumping septic waste through the screen can take a long time
without adequate water.
The county commissioners have requested an
investigation into developing a nearby water supply.
Kittitas County Commissioner Obie O'Brien
suggested said that the county has a number of options, from trucking in water
from neighboring counties to drilling a new well.
The estimated cost for either options are
unknown, but the latter might risk contamination from the nearby Ryegrass
landfill, according to Johnson.
“I don’t want to puncture rock,” Johnson
said. “I’m not gonna tell you that contamination wouldn’t run down hill.”
O’Brien agreed, saying that the move could be
more trouble than it would be worth in the long term.
“I’m reluctant to puncture granite and risk
any chance of leakage,” O’Brien said.
Source: 12
October 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment