Closed landfill still causing stink

A trash dump that turned into an environmental nightmare in 1998 is finally headed for closure after eight years of impasses. But closure might come with an increase in local garbage bills to fund the final $20 million of cleanup work.

Residential customers of Republic Services, the region's trash-hauling monopoly, would see their $11.82 monthly garbage collection fee rise by about 26 cents under a suggested "environmental surcharge" Republic has floated to Clark County officials.

The 2.2 percent rate hike, described in an internal county memo obtained by the Review-Journal, would help fund Republic's ongoing cleanup of Sunrise landfill.

The trash dump on the eastern outskirts of the valley closed in 1993 after some 25 million tons of trash were deposited there.

Then on Sept. 11, 1998, a 100-year storm that flooded parts of the valley ripped open a swath of the landfill's earthen cap and carried off a large amount of rotting refuse, spreading it over a four-plus-mile stretch to the Las Vegas Wash.

One environmentalist described it at the time as, "a 4.5-mile garbage flow, from the landfill to the wash."

The wash empties into Lake Mead, the valley's primary drinking water supply.

Authorities feared that toxic compounds and metals buried in the dump might escape into groundwater layers and eventually Lake Mead.

Months before the flood, in April 1998, nearby residents complained about the rotten-egg smell of hydrogen sulfide gas emanating from the dump in concentrations hundreds of times higher than are considered safe. During a visit to the site that month, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he had "never smelled a toilet this bad."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cited the county and Republic in 1999 under the Clean Water Act, ordering an extensive cleanup and numerous measures to prevent more problems.

But years of bickering between Republic and the EPA have delayed closure of the site. The EPA deemed Republic's closure plan inadequate, while Republic charged federal regulators with constantly shifting their cleanup criteria, leading the EPA to refer the case to the U.S. Justice Department in 2002.

The dispute has begun to calm down with recent settlement talks.

"It seems like some of the impasses are being worked through, and we may be reaching resolution on the work that remains to be done," said Steve Wall, an environmental engineer for the EPA's regional waste management division in San Francisco.

Wall said he expects the settlement will include penalties but he couldn't say how much.

The remaining work includes installing storm water controls at the landfill's higher elevations.

"We want it channelized in a controlled manner so it doesn't impact the waste," Wall said Tuesday.

Republic Services of Southern Nevada President Bob Coyle said he expects to have a federally approved plan to finish the work within two to three months.

How that work will be funded is the subject of an internal memo circulated among county officials last month.

It states that Republic agreed in 1999 to finance the estimated $36 million cleanup cost of Sunrise in exchange for a 15-year contract extension that made them Clark County's garbage collection contractor through 2035.

The agreement allows Republic to seek a rate increase from county commissioners to fund whatever costs reach beyond the initial $36 million, but does not cap Republic's financial liability related to complying with the EPA's orders.

However, Coyle said in an interview Wednesday that the garbage company has already invested $28 million and would not be funding cleanup or closure costs beyond the $36 million.

Estimating the remaining work at the site will run an additional $15 million to $20 million, Republic approached the county earlier this year with ideas for generating the remaining cash needed.

Although Republic floated the idea to the county, Coyle said it would be misleading to portray the situation as Republic seeking a rate hike. The money from the proposed environmental surcharge would be funneled into county coffers, he said.

"We're not seeking an increase," Coyle said. "We just said, 'Hey, you need to be considering how you're going to fund the money after the first $36 million.' We just recommended an environmental surcharge."

Meanwhile, environmentalists contend Republic should pick up the tab for the remaining work.

"There shouldn't be any renegotiating of the fee structure," said Jane Feldman, conservation co-chairwoman of the Sierra Club's Southern Nevada group.

A prudent contract already would have a requirement for the contractor to meet applicable laws, Feldman said.

But Coyle said the proposed environmental surcharge would be a minor addition to residential customers' bills, especially if it is dialed back to 1 percent, an alternate proposal Republic has made to the county.

"That would be about 12 cents a month," he said. "Over an entire year, it adds up to about two-thirds the cost of a plain cup of coffee from Starbucks."

County Manager Virginia Valentine said Tuesday that she is likely to bring Republic's proposal before county commissioners for direction in mid-May, but Valentine said she and other staffers have yet to settle on what they will recommend to the board.

"We still have a lot of questions," Valentine said.

While all county businesses serviced by Republic would be affected by the 2.2 percent hike, the only residential customers subject to it would be the 158,000 homes within unincorporated areas of Clark County, those covered under the county's contract with Republic.

However, the county memo indicates Republic has told county officials they plan to propose the rate hike to incorporated cities in Southern Nevada, mentioning Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

Neither city has been approached about the idea yet, officials for both cities said Tuesday.

No matter how the final work is funded, environmentalists have other gripes with Republic's handling of the landfill.

In Feldman's view, the drought since 1998 has allowed for foot-dragging in the effort to meet EPA compliance standards.

Federal regulators agree.

"We still say there's an imminent threat if there's a large storm," said the EPA's Wall. The agency is "cautiously optimistic" that the settlement agreement with Republic will be reached and the channels built before rains like those in 1998 happen again.

Once a settlement is reached and the site is finally covered with two feet of earth and rocks, the county intends to end its lease of the land from the Bureau of Land Management and acquire the property.

So what will the site become?

"We're looking at recreation-type activities," said Alan Pinkerton, deputy director of the county's Air Quality and Environmental Management department. "A park, a solar farm for power generation or maybe both."

Review-Journal writer Keith Rogers contributed to this report.