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Show I ' ''-vNi 7'-V .'v.--- ...-.Ua.V. - ...... ! ' .- .r -u. K.,v..r-:r- : -" - : - ; V.:".ds of .cu bage smoulder in the foreground as jrt of regular burning procedures at the Citv-'.-ty dump. Many times, the view of the LaS.il i.-r.uins in the background is dimmed by smoke After nearly two years :f trying to bring three :eral agencies, several .ies and two counties agreement concern-.- construction ofasan-u:y ofasan-u:y landfill site, the National Park Service. I'.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Manage-ment hav e decided to "go it alone", at least for the time being, and construct their own site. Involv ed in the project, in addition to the three federal agencies, have been representatives of Grand and San Juan Counties, Coun-ties, Moab, Monticello. and Blanding. Some consideration con-sideration was given in several of the meetings tow; . construction of a regional site which would serve both Grand an J San Juan Counties. This idea has now been largely discarded dis-carded by all involved. BLM Permit At this time. accord- c litv ... l,'SlV Mai"'nancc problems at the (Ph o hv n V;'i,Ve caused even more problems. g ,uv) Ser' Knvironmental Protection Dump Smoulders as Agencies Study Separate Solutions ing to Superintendent of Cany on lands Robert Kerr, the Park Service is in the process of apply ap-ply ing to the BLM for a permit to construct a landfill in upper Spanish Valley.. The Park Service Ser-vice has already purchased pur-chased a bulldozer and loader to be used at the site, along with fencing. Truck mounted compaction compact-ion equipment is already-being already-being used for hauling to landfill sites at the various areas intheCan-yonlands intheCan-yonlands Complex. There are small landfills now in operation at the Maze, Arches, Natural Bridges, and Needles and the new-site new-site would allow for centralized cen-tralized dumping. It is anticipated. Supi. Kerr scid, that die Maze site would continue in use and that refuse from Natural Bridges would be hauled to a site in conjunction with Glen Canyon National Nat-ional Recreation Area. Deadline Set Forest Engineer for the Manti-LaSal National Forest, Bill Boley, stated stat-ed this week that the Federal agencies must be using a sanitary landfill by July 1, 1974 and for this reason they are urging ur-ging early construction of a site in this area. "W'e would like to see the City involved," he said, "but at this time our primary concern is getting a site for the Federal agencies in order or-der to meet our deadline." dead-line." In the event that the site is not ready for dumping by the deadline next year, it will become necessary for the Forest Service to haul refuse from both the Moab and Monticello districts to Price for dumping, Mr. Boley said. Management Problems In a discussion of the problem last week. Mayor May-or Winford Bunce stated stat-ed that he realized that something was going to have to be done soon. "We are having management man-agement problems at the dump now," he said," "and it is showing up more and more all the time." Mayor Bunce indicated in-dicated that the Citv has set aside S8.000 in the current budget to be us-(Continued us-(Continued on Page 2) gi i t r.' . , -t.-.W . ....- .V i.f " r t K if--- J . ! " - "' --.;::;vj ; " - .... , j .-J -" . . ! , ? S ""' View ed from the Old Post Office building, the City-County City-County dump sends a column of black smoke into the air over Moab Valley. Any photos taken from Dump Smoulders (Continued from Pg. 1) ed for conversion to a sanitary landfill if needed. need-ed. He also indicated that the City is waiting for contact from the Federal agencies relative to their decision on a dump site. At the time that open burning was prohibited in Utah, Moab City applied ap-plied for, and received a one year extension on burning at the dump from the I'tah Air Quality Standards Stan-dards Committee. However, How-ever, according to Mayor May-or Bunce, this extension ran out 2-3 years ago. The general opinion is that although something the West side of the valley toward the east nearly always contain the pallor of smoke in the background. must be done, the Air Standards Committee is not prepared to take action ac-tion to force compliance with the regulation. Other items which must be considered. Mayor Bunce said, in order or-der to make the site workable, would be county coun-ty collection of refuse from central locations. This remains to be finalized, fin-alized, he said. Site Data John Urbanek, maintenance main-tenance supervisor for Canyonlands has been working on this project for some time and listed list-ed some of the considerations consid-erations which went into selection of the site. Tests, Urbanek said, of the ground cover at the site have been made to insure quality of the cover. cov-er. Also considered is the size of the site, which should be large enough to last for at least several sev-eral years, if the City decides to come in on the project. "One problem prob-lem we have had," he said, "is that we have been unable to get any firm figure on the amount am-ount of garbage hauled by the City each week. We are certain that if only the federal agencies use the site, it would last for quite a number of years since their total contribution to the refuse in this area is quite small." Basically, it is anticipated antic-ipated that some of the costs to be incurred in construction of the site will include: building of a paved access road at a cost of approximately $45,000 per mile (in this case, the road would be only about 12 mile long); fencing (already purchased) pur-chased) at about $4.50 per linear ft., installed; building or shelter for equipment, $6.00 per sq. ft. with an expected size of about 20' x 40'; and utilities for the person maintaining the facility. Landfill Concept The landfill concept requires that refuse be covered each day that new matter is dumped, according to Mr. Urbanek. This cover is about 18" thick so that nothing is left above ground to attract rodents or other animals. Car bodies, tree limbs and other large items are dumped separately and do not require coverage as often. After a particular par-ticular trench is filled, a final layer of cover material 2-3 feel thick is placed on it and compacted. com-pacted. Controlled Operation A sanitary landfill is a controlled operation. Mr. Urbanek stated and random dumping cannot be allowed. It is possible that large containers will be placed outside the enclosure en-closure to accommodate residents who wish to dump after hours of operation. op-eration. The idea of a landfill site requires a change in the thinking of residents and they must be ready to cooperate cooper-ate with the operator of the site to make sure that refuse is deposited properly. "If such a site is operated properly," Mr. Urbanek concluded, "it is truly sanitary." After the site is fully utilized, it can then be used for other purposes such as recreation or subdivision development, he said. Impact Statement Following application by the Park Service for use of the site, BLM officials will begin work on an Environmental Analysis An-alysis of the project. Following Fol-lowing this, it will be determined, de-termined, according to BLM Area Manager, Marvin Jensen whether or not an Environmental Impact Statement will have to be written. In all likelyhood, Mr. Jensen said, this will have to be done and if it is, it will probably be at least 2 years before be-fore the final approval is given. This allow s time for the built-in waiting periods and public notice not-ice which are included in any Impact Statement. Park officials are hoping that they will be able to begiif using the site next year. Mr. Jensen also said that if the site is not ready by next July 1, the BLM may have to take steps to provide for an interim disposal site until the landfill can be opened. At this time, both BLM and Forest Service are using the facilities at the Moab City dump. |
