Boulder City to outsource trash-to-energy landfill plant

By Cassie Tomlin

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008 | 11:36 a.m.

Boulder City will soon solicit proposals to convert trash at the Boulder City Municipal Landfill into fuel for energy.

After nearly a year tossing around the idea of trash-to-energy operation at the dump, the City Council decided Wednesday to outsource. All of the officials said they were in favor of plant as long as it's not on the city's dime.

Three people have already expressed interest in the project, Public Works Director Scott Hansen said.

Hansen will draft a request for a municipal solid waste processing and energy recovery plant, "with language as broad as possible," he said, and advertise it online. He said he would also consult the U.S. Department of Agriculture for suggestions on where else to seek applicants.

The City Council will have the final say on which proposal would move forward.

Last month, Hansen, City Manager Vicki Mayes, Councilwoman Linda Strickland, Councilman Travis Chandler, Boulder Disposal General Manager Robert Martello and two representatives of the Southern Nevada Health District visited a trash-incinerating plant near Salinas, Calif.

The autoclave conveys trash from the garbage truck into a basin, where it is pounded and steamed into mulch. The small amount that can't be broken down is filtered out and buried the landfill.

The plant was constructed by a private company and is run by the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority as an experiment in piling less trash in a landfill that is set to be closed soon because it is full.

The waste authority sends the mulch to the USDA, which is testing how it can be used to make methane or other energy fuel. The mulch is not yet being used for energy generation.

The Boulder City landfill also is filling up rapidly, and the city has applied to the Southern Nevada Health District to expand the areas where it can dump and to allow the trash to be piled higher. Closing the landfill if it fills up too quickly could cost the city about $5 million.

At the council meeting, Chandler, who had initially proposed the city investigate the technology at the landfill, said economics were the biggest concern with the potential addition.

"It's not going to be up to the city to provide funds," he said. "Whoever wants to respond to the RFP (request for proposal) will tell us how make it work economically. ... The big question is more economics than technology."

He said he hopes the request for proposal will include a suggestion to search for research funding, and will be broad enough to include many types of energy-manufacturing methods.