05/05/2009: "Statement From Peterson & Pratt On SJI Transfer Station Selection"

(The following is public statement from SJC Council Chair Rich Peterson and Council member Lovel Pratt to the citizens of San Juan County. It may or my not reflect the opinion of Councilmember Rosenfeld or Knapp, both of whom voted for the Sutton road site, nor of Councilmember Myhr who was on vacation and missed the vote, nor Councilmember Fralick who voted against Sutton Rd.)

On Tuesday April 28th the San Juan County Council voted to make the site on Sutton Road which encompasses the current Transfer Station Site its preferred choice for constructing a new solid waste facility.

Recognizing that there may be some roadblocks to using that site, we instructed the County Administrator to begin negotiations for the property, seeking a needed variance on the height restriction of structures which can be built there, and to assess financial and other risks due to known and potential contamination from the closed landfill on that property. At the end of 30 days, the Council can re-consider its decision if problems are discovered.

The effort to upgrade San Juan Island’s solid waste facility has been long and expensive. The Council appreciates the work of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) and the County’s staff in locating and evaluating sites which could fulfill the County’s needs. They succeeded in finding three sites which we all agreed were adequate for the purpose.

In the end, the Council voted to select the site that was ranked third by both SWAC and the Public Works Department. This decision was partially based on factors which neither staff nor SWAC had been asked to consider.

Among those factors: The Washington State Department of Ecology’s strong recommendation that the County and Town work together to operate one transfer station, as having one disposal site reduces the potential for environmental harm, and the fact that this current economic downturn makes it even more important for the two government entities on this small island to pool their resources in developing essential public facilities.

The Town’s continuing responsibility for maintaining and monitoring the closed landfill on Sutton Road and dealing with any continuing environmental problems make it likely that it very well could -as it has discussed- operate its own transfer station operation there. In addition to creating a duplication of services -something upon which both our Comprehensive Plan and the Department of Ecology recommends against, it would greatly reduce the amount of revenue available to fund the County’s transfer station. By building the new solid waste facility on Sutton Road we can be assured that we won’t have duplicate services, and as a bonus, we may qualify for grants that are available for reclaiming areas which are now undesirable for environmental reasons -such as the federal “Brown Field” program.

Since 1953, the people who own property and live near the Sutton road site knew that there was a solid waste operation there. Constructing an upgraded, less noisy, less malodorous, more attractive and efficient facility can actually improve the current situation for the Sutton Road neighbors.

As the time for the Council to make a decision approached, we learned that the State Department of Ecology will require us to make changes, and potentially capital improvements, at the current transfer station in order to continue handling our wastes while the new station is constructed. In making its decision, the Council felt that the new transfer station should be able to utilize improvements added to the site to meet those state requirements.

The Council has built in an option to revisit our decision soon if it becomes apparent that using the Sutton Road location is going to produce more problems than we anticipate. As Council Members who have studied the many difficult technical and community issues raised in the site selection process, we believe that this decision was made for the right reasons and with our eyes fixed on the best interest of the community.