Las Vegas Sun

February 11, 2012

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Politics:

Politicians join in opposition of Northern Nevada landfill

Harry Reid and Dean Rhoads might not agree on much, but they don’t want more of California’s trash

By Cy Ryan (contact)

Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009 | 5:28 p.m.

CARSON CITY – Two politicians of different stripes have joined in an effort to stop a plan to bury an average of 4,000 tons of California’s garbage a day in Northern Nevada.

Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, and Dean Rhoads, a conservative state senator from Elko, have combined to write a guest editorial in the Reno Gazette Journal.

They complain that Recology, a San Francisco waste management company, would send loads of sewage sludge, asbestos and other trash by rail to the 634-acre site about 25 miles from Winnemucca.

It would result in a 20-story-tall pile of California’s trash that would be in Nevada forever, they say.

Adam Alberti, a spokesman for Recology, said Reid and Rhoads are misrepresenting the project, which is environmentally safe.

He said that once the project is approved, Humboldt County would receive a “host fund” — the amount yet to be determined — based on each ton of garbage.

Rhoads, also an opponent of the Yucca Mountain nuclear dump, said he and Reid “don’t agree on much else,” but they are together in their opposition of the so-called Jungo Landfill.

The Humboldt County Planning Commission gave its approval for the landfill, which still must pass state muster.

Rhoads says residents are upset about the plan.

He and Reid say the state Division of Environmental Protection has determined that leachate from the site would pollute groundwater.

But Allen Biaggi, director of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, says no determination has been made.

The two politicians also note that the site is in a seismic impact zone.

Alberti said the landfill will have an engineered liner, similar to those used by the mining industry, that has been successfully installed in landfills in the rest of the country.

Reid and Rhoads, however, argue that the liners would fail in the event of an earthquake.

Rhoads said the company also wants to take “the valuable stuff” — refuse that be used on reclamation projects — out of the trash.

Public hearings are expected to be held in the second quarter of 2010.

“All we ask is for fair consideration by the state of Nevada regulatory agencies,” said Alberti, who added Nevada already operates landfills that accept waste from California and other states.

Rhoads was in Washington, D.C., several months ago and talked with Reid’s staff about the landfill.

The two politicians have since joined to stop the San Francisco firm that collects garbage in nine northern California counties.

Cy Ryan may be reached at (775) 687 5032 or cy@lasvegassun.com.

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