Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Dairyland looks to landfill for ash waste
VIROQUA, Wis. — Dairy-land Power Cooperative ann-ounced this week it will explore the Vernon County landfill as an alternative to acquiring 600 acres of farmland for ash storage.
Dairyland officials made the announcement at a meeting with the Vernon County Solid Waste Committee on Monday, and the committee passed a resolution to continue exploring the option with Dairyland.
“We are here to tell you technically we think this could work,” said Brian Rude, Dairyland’s director of external relations. “We see a possibility for some real synergies.”
Vernon County’s Solid Waste Administrator Gail Frie was equally optimistic.
“This is very preliminary, and it’s not a lock, but there are lots of positives,” Frie said. “They are just adding another site as an option, but this site has some unique positives that no other site would have.”
Frie and Rude said they have been talking about the idea since Dairyland’s September announcement that it wanted to acquire land in the town of Harmony for a landfill. Dairyland has met with considerable resistance to the sites, Rude said, so the idea of using an existing landfill intrigued Dairyland.
Both Frie and Rude said the existing landfill would have to be expanded because the volume of ash produced by Dairyland would fill the existing landfill fairly quickly, Rude and Frie said.
“We would probably be full in about a year,” said Frie.
Frie said there is the potential to purchase up 300 adjoining acres to expand the landfill, and some of those costs could be shared between the county and Dairyland, potentially lowering the cost for both.
Rude said one of the main advantages of combining forces is that Dairyland may not have to use as much farm land for the landfill, because the existing 300 acres of the Vernon County landfill could count as part of the buffer zone that will likely be required by the DNR.
The DNR is the authority that controls siting of landfills, and both Rude and Frie said it may be easier to expand the existing landfill rather than have Dairyland site a new facility. Frie said the process of DNR approval for expansion could move as quickly as 2½ years if everything went well.
Rude said that the sites in the town of Harmony are still on the table, and the need to move forward with testing of soil and water at those sites still exists.
While remaining cautious, landowners affected by the town of Harmony sites were encouraged by the announcement.
Scott Leum, who owns a home in one of the potential sites, said he would like to see the town of Harmony sites off the table until all other options are explored.
“I am very happy to see you working together,” said Leum. “But I still look at it and say ‘Why test the soil in Harmony?’ I think it is very premature to look at those sites. Most of the landowners there do not want to sell, and you are looking at a long legal fight.”
Land owner Carl Volden said the worst-case scenario would be for Dairyland to force landowners off their land and then find a reuse and not need to use the land.
“At that point it’s too late,” said Volden. “The farms will be gone and residents will be displaced.”
Tim Hundt is a reporter at the Vernon County Broadcaster.
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