Agenda - Council - 01/13/1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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- 18 - It is recommended that only 32 acres of land be bought at this time for an ash landfill and an additional 19 acres be optioned for possible future use. The MWCC should also continue to pursue land application and develop the needed expertise to make this disposal method a viable and reliable option in the future. None of the land for land spreading is recommended to be purchased because the ,quality of the s lu dge from the Seneca plant is one of the best in the metro system. The quality is better than what the MPCA ~llows for disposal on direct food-chain crops. It is, therefore, felt that land disposal on private farmland of the Seneca sludge will not be a problem. ~!!!Eire . The MWCC recommends continuing landspreading of anaerobically digested dewatered sludge on MWCC-owned land adjacent to the plant site. One other alternative, composting, was examined, but was found to be considerably higher in cost and not as environmentally acceptable. . The recommended alternative would not require the purchase of any additional land. The amount of land needed for land application is 220 acres exclUding buffers. The MWCC can currently only use land they own for sludge disposal for four years in accordance with the Waste Management Act. If the Council agrees with the MWCC recommendation to continue using this site for sludge disposal after four years, the Council must choose this site as one of the final sites for sludge dispo~al. It is recommended that the MWCC continue land disposal of slUdge from the Empire treatment plant 'on its own land. This site will be examined'against the criteria developed for land application to determine if it meets the criteria established by the Council. If this property does not meet the criteria it is recommended that only one half of the amount of land needed, 110 acres, be purchased by the MWCC and the other half be private farmland. Only one half the amount of land is being considered for purchase because of the local demand for the sludge. This takes only one half of the amount of land needed off the tax rolls and stresses the philosophy that the site would only be used when needed and other options must also be pursued. ~lue Lak!t . Since the Blue Lake plant does not have any sludge processing facilities of its own, many alternatives were considered for this p-lant. 'Fhe MWCC recommended that the sludge be thickened, anai!r- ob1cally digested, dewa tered and applied to land. Other al ter- natives considered were incineration, composting and lime stabil- ization. The costs for all alternatives are close. The MWCC contends they are essentially equivalent. Therefore, nonmonetary