Prince William County maintained a waste transfer facility and mulch production site on Balls Ford Road, rather than build a waste-to-energy facility
Prince William County maintained a waste transfer facility and mulch production site on Balls Ford Road, rather than build a waste-to-energy facility
New landfills are engineered to minimize air and water pollution. Regulations require capture of the "leachate," the fluid that leaks out of the landfill, as the solid waste decays and the weight of the pile squeezes out the "garbage juice").
In the 1970's, and again in the 1990's, there was a fear in some Virginia communities such as Prince William County that they could run out of places to dump solid waste. Jurisdictions such as Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax burned their garbage in waste-to-energy plants ("incinerators"), so they did not need extra space for expanding landfills. Other jurisdictions without incinerators feared they might find themselves unable to grow, if they could not dispose of the solid waste - just as the lack of sewage treatment capacity forced some fast-growing jurisdictions in the 1960's to freeze permits for new houses, until wastewater treatment plants were expanded.
By the 1990's, Prince William County had concentrated all solid waste management into one county-wide solid waste facility. The county passed local ordinances banning private dumps, guaranteeing a steady supply of waste to the one county landfill that was located in the middle of the county off Route 234. (Separate construction and demolition debris (C&DD) dumps, including a massive one at the southeast corner of I-95 and Route 234 in Dumfries, disposed of dirt, tree stumps, broken concrete, and other waste from construction sites, but were not allowed to receive household garbage.)
As the county population skyrocketed in the boom times of the 1990's, the household waste stream also grew dramatically. County officials knew they could attract new housing and businesses with a guarantee that solid waste disposal would always be available. Where would the county put all the waste? Anticipating a shortage of landfill space after the next 20 years, Prince William officials planned to build a waste-to-energy plant - just like Fairfax, Arlington, and Alexandria.
Fairfax County waste-to-energy facility, as seen from Leesylvania State Park
Until the recession on 1989-91, it looked like a good decision. Recycling initiatives, while encouraged, were not expect to eliminate the need for landfill expansion. The recession reduced the supply of waste briefly, vbut then a Federal court decision changed the economic assumptions that had justified new incinerator plans.
A federal judge ruled that garbage was an article of commerce, just like televisions, toys, and tobacco. Article I, Section 10 of the US Constitution says:
Prince William's successful landfill operation was based on the assumption that waste generated within the county would have to go to the one official solid waste facility in the county. A steady stream of waste ensured a steady stream of income, and investors would purchase bonds for an incinerator with confidence that revenues from "trapped" customers would pay back the investors.
incinerators reduce the volume of solid waste by a 10:1 ratio, so the cells in municipal landfills will be able to accept waste for many more years
Source: Fairfax County, Energy Resource Recovery Facility
Once the Supreme Court ruled that "flow control" ordinances (mandating that solid waste be delivered to a particular landfill) were unconstitutional, the economic geography of waste management expanded quickly. Private companies saw an opportunity to open new landfills that met Federal pollution control mandates, and were less expensive to operate than the smaller county facilities.
The new mega-landfills could accept waste as a lower cost/ton for disposal than the proposed incinerator in Prince William, and still make a profit. The new landfills undercut the financial stability of existing county landfills across the state. Rather than upgrade small facilities to meet ever-increasing pollution control requirements, many communities closed their small landfills and began to export their waste to regional facilities.
Prince William County cancelled plans for the waste-to-energy facility, after buying the land but before selling bonds for any construction costs. Instead, the county developed the land as a waste transfer collection facility, where citizens living in the western end of the county could bring their solid waste without having to drive all the way to the landfill.
Prince William also created a mulch production operation there, grinding up vegetation (especially autumn leaves) into mulch that is sold to customers. This reduces the volume of waste going into the sanitary landfill, extending the life of that facility.
the trash trade between Fairfax and Prince William creates valuable mulch from organic waste that otherwise would have clogged a landfill
In an innovative deal, Prince William then negotiated a "trash trade" with Fairfax County. Fairfax was allowed to bring its leaves, branches, and similar waste to the Balls Ford Road site, and Prince William was allowed to carry a similar quantity of solid waste to the Fairfax incinerator at Lorton. Both jurisdictions minimized transportation and disposal costs as part of that deal.
In 2008, Prince William agreed to sell the planned incinerator site to a private company planning to build a 600-megawatt natural gas power plant at the site, but the contract expired without a sale.1
most of the planned site for the incinerator is now occupied by rows of mulch in various stages of production
Source: ESRIy, ArcGIS Online