Moorcroft to resume push for regional landfill

Several years ago, the Town of Moorcroft was obliged to bury the pit at its landfill per the requirements of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Though the pit was situated in bentonite, an effective water-tight liner, DEQ mandated the closure of most of the smaller unlined municipal trenches in Wyoming due to the discovery that many were leaking.

Moorcroft alone cannot afford the multimillion-dollar expense for lining a new pit and closing the existing area, so the town is seeking the recognition of a solid waste district from the Crook County Commissioners. The council has sought allies among the other local townships and, with the exception of Hulett, everyone appeared amenable to the idea when it was put forward, according to Mayor Dick Claar.

With this plan in mind, Moorcroft approached the DEQ and the agency agreed to allow the town up to four or even five possible vertical expansions on the old site as the town advances said plan.

A couple of months ago, the Moorcroft landfill was visited by the DEQ for an inspection of the service site as the second vertical expansion permitted to the town is in use; present were Claar, Public Works Director Cory Allison and Heath Turbiville of HDR Engineering. The findings during this walkthrough were that the town’s oversight of the facility is not in compliance with DEQ operating standards and regulations.

Among other items noted, the inspection found the working “face” too large as well as a lack of significant compaction in this area due to the intermittent failure of the onsite compactor. Both conditions contribute to debris flying within the fenced area as well as outside the municipal property.

Claar recounts the over-riding opinion of the inspectors: “They thought we should do a better job, which we did, but circumstances were dictating what we could do at the time and they gave us the impression that if we didn’t do better, they wouldn’t give us any more [expansion] permits.”

A few weeks after examining the landfill, according to the mayor, the town received an official and “scathing” letter from the agency, saying in part, “In the event of equipment breakdown, backup equipment shall be obtained to ensure compliance.” No backup equipment was on hand for either the faulty compactor or the dozer.

The agency also reproved the town for not moving forward with the planned solid waste district upon which the largesse of the DEQ is based.

Certain aspects of the immediate problem were quickly corrected as the crew decreased the open space in use and the compactor was fixed, thus compaction has returned to an acceptable rate. However, the back-up equipment is an expensive investment.

“You’re talking lots of money,” Claar notes about the secondary tools. “It’s just way too expensive to buy that extra equipment.”

These operating costs could be solved and subsequently managed by a district board if the county commissioners approve the plan for a solid waste district. The mayor hopes to move forward with the possible solid waste district after November, but admits it will take a while.

“I need to go in front of the county commissioners, hopefully before January 1, and ask them if they will form a solid waste district,” he says. “We need to pursue this as rapidly as possible and get something established.”

This district would also be able to put the requisite mill levy on the next ballot to install another actual pit on the 120-acre site and ultimately take Moorcroft out of the garbage business.

Coming back to the more tangible problem of flying debris that is and has been overwhelming the public works crews for some time, there is a solution with the help of the community, according to the mayor.

“The problem is these plastic grocery bags. They’re just throwing them into the containers, then, of course the wind whips them up. In my opinion, if Wyoming would outlaw these plastic sacks, it would be a blessing for everybody,” he says.

Allison’s crew is in the process of building ten foot wire panels or “screens” to be set around the working area to “try to catch the plastic bags from blowing around [and] the trash from blowing over the fence and in the field.”

“Bag ALL your garbage,” Allison and Claar advise everyone who uses the Moorcroft landfill, “Make sure your trash is put in those big black bags instead of putting loose garbage in the trash cans.”

The store bags are not the only plastic sacks floating on the currents; dog food bags and similar used sacks also parachute on the breeze. By keeping all loose garbage, particularly plastic bags, bagged in appropriate receptacles, everyone can help with this problem.