Agenda - Council - 09/27/1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT EIS FOR THE PROPOSED EXPANSION OF THE ANOKA SANITARY LANDFILL Introduction The EIS on the proposed vertical expansion of Anoka Sanitary Landfill has been reviewed by the City of Ramsey. The city's comments on the EIS are herein being submitted. As a general note, our review leaves the City with the impression that the EIS was completed as a supporting document to the Certificate of Need (CON) process rather than as an objective evaluation of impacts and alternatives to the proposed action. The CON application and analysis information which is contained in the EIS is dated and stale relying on the applicant's proposed 1986 expansion capacity rather than the system's needs as reflected two years later. We also find that the EIS compares impacts of the expansion to a previous condition typical of 1986 rather than comparing the impacts to a severely curtailed operation as presently exists. Thus, many impacts are determined in the EIS to be no greater than presently exist when, in fact, a four to five fold increase in activity would be experienced over 1988 levels. The EIS throughout, bases its evaluation on a time frame which assumes operations would be completed in approximately two and a half years or 1991. However, Waste Management Minnesota, Inc. in their CUP applica- tion with the city of Ramsey is indicating an operating life of at least five years. Thus, the duration of impacts to the Community is likely to be much longer than that portrayed through the EIS. This can be resolved, however, by placing an operational time limit on the proposed expansion through the permitting processes. Underlying the entire landfill siting and expansion processes, there appears to be some perception at the Metropolitan Council, the County and MPCA that the Community and residents are simply suffering from the NIMBY syndrome. This is not so. The City and its residents have done their share and more to accomodate the region's waste. There simply has to come a time when, like it or not, a landfill must close in conjunction with its permitted life. Need for Project The EIS largely depends on the Certificate of Need (CON) application/ analysis conducted in 1986. That process portrayed a near crisis situation with respect to the region's landfill capacity and specifi- cally the need for capacity between 1987-1990. The CON process con- cluded that no feasible or prudent alternatives to expansion exist to serve the region's needs during that time period. The CON was reissued in January of 1988 at the same capacity as was applied for by W-MMI in 1986 to serve 1987 through 1990 (635 acre- feet).