Rural areas get break in solid waste collection

Thursday, March 26, 1998 | 10:32 a.m.

The state Environmental Commission amended solid waste rules to allow small Nevada towns such as Jackpot and Gabbs to collect trash at transfer stations over objections from the state's largest waste management company.

The proposal was simple. For small towns unable to meet stricter landfill regulations, state environmental officials offered stronger regulations for designing and operating transfer stations enclosed behind a fence.

But Silver State Disposal Service, the major waste manager in Clark County and the state, objected to the new rules unless it covered everyone including composters and recycling companies.

Attorney John Moran Jr., representing Silver State, spent more than half an hour Wednesday telling the commissioners to delay the transfer station decision. "This does not go far enough for a state law," he said, noting the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection will not collect fees for inspecting and monitoring transfer stations.

When gamers apply for a license, they pay the state for the privilege, Moran said.

Silver State and its subsidiaries have attracted public attention lately.

Silver State operates the Apex landfill. The federal Bureau of Land Management is investigating the closed Sunrise landfill, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Las Vegas, to see if the 720-acre site operated by Silver State was properly closed.

Silver State's subsidiary, Environmental Technologies of Nevada, is handling the cleanup at a suspected illegal medical waste site in North Las Vegas operated by US EnviroMedical Corp.

"The bio-medical stuff can be dangerous," Moran said, urging the Environmental Commission to tackle such issues as illegal dumping.

Acting Commission Chairman Michael Turnipseed said that Jackpot in northern Nevada had no landfill and the transfer station would allow the town to collect its garbage instead of hauling it to Elko, which is expensive.

Commission member Marla Griswold of Wells said the changes to the regulations would solve trash collection problems in rural areas.

State environmental official Les Gould said the new rules were not developed for Clark County because its three transfer stations operated by Silver State meet or exceed standards. The three are located on Cheyenne Road, Black Mountain Road and Shelborne, in the southern end of the valley.

Gould said that the state eventually wants all waste managers to meet stricter rules.

In March 1997, President Clinton signed an order to ensure flexibility for regulating small landfills, including alternatives on covering them, capturing methane gas and operating them, Gould said. The changes for inspecting design and operation plans for transfer stations fall under these rules.