Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

STATEMENT BY THOMAS P. SMITH, CITY ENGINEER,

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.

SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL IN TALLAHASSEE

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, sir.

The history of solid waste disposal in Tallahassee can be traced back to the time of its founding as the State capital in 1924. Then, and for 100 ensuing years, all municipal solid waste was used to fill ravines and sinkholes located within four city blocks of the Capitol Building. In 1924, when the population was 7,500, a then modern incinerator was constructed. This served Tallahassee for about 20 years. In 1944, with a population of 30,000 and the incinerator overloaded, a low area 3 miles southwest of the city was purchased and used as a modified sanitary land fill and a trash dump where burning, followed by covering, was the method of disposal. In 1955 the city placed its garbage disposal under the State health department's arthropod control program and obtained a use permit from the U.S. Forest Service for 15 acres of Appalachicola National Forest, located 4 miles southwest of the city, as a sanitary land fill for garbage only. In 1962 the sanitary land fill was relocated to its present 200-acre site 5 miles southwest of the city on city-owned land which is part of the municipal airport property. It also is operated under the arthropod control

program.

The sanitary land fill handles only household and commercial garbage. Bulk cardboard containers and commercial waste paper are collected separately from other waste material and delivered to a local paper salvage company. The benefits include decreased hauling distance and reduced volume at the land fill. Currently the area serves 85,000 people: 70,000 from within the city and 15,000 in the contiguous area. Volume for the past 12 months amounted to 191,524 cubic yards or an annual contribution of 2.25 cubic yards per person.

The land-fill operation includes trenching with a dragline, packing garbage 15 feet deep in the trench with a bulldozer, then covering at the end of each day with an 8-foot sand cover. The somewhat unusual depths of trench and cover are based upon practical adaptation to local circumstances. The land-fill area is very sandy and heavy trucks cannot back up to the edge of the open trench without caving the edge of the trench and falling into the trench. Therefore, trucks must use garbage which has been prepacked in the trench for a roadway. This means that a few feet of garbage must be left uncovered at the end of each day to begin the new roadway for the following workday. However, there has been no evidence of fly breeding or rat harborage at the site. No complaints have been received from users or from the general public about this operation.

The level terrain, sandy-soil characteristics, low ground-water table, good access roads, absence of nearby subdivisions and close proximity to the city make this an ideal land fill. This type of operation has not interfered with airport operations nor did it use land which would otherwise have been used for airport construction.

There is no charge for use of the land fill. The city has always regarded this as a public health type activity rather than a utility oper

The cost of operation for the sanitary land fill is 20 cents per cubic yard of waste material buried. This is broken down as 10 cents for trenching, 7 cents for bulldozer parking, 2 cents for land cost, and 1 cent for administration and supervision.

Projections

Projections made in 1962 indicated that this 200-acre site would be adequate until 1987. The recent rate of population growth for the Tallahassee area and the amount of garbage collected annually per capita has been higher than indicated by 1962 projections. Currently land-fill operations require 1.4 acres per year per 10,000 population as compared with a 1962 projection of 1 acre. New projections indicate that this 200-acre area will be adequate until 1978. When the area does become filled, current plans anticipate relocation to a new area of the airport 1/2 miles beyond the present site. This future site has an area of 300 acres which would be adequate for 12 years beyond 1978. With the lands presently owned plus those earmarked for land-fill operations, the needs of Tallahassee and its contiguous area will be met through the year 1990.

Trash is a separate operation from garbage, but the volume is approximately that of garbage, but per unit volume, trash disposal requires less land area than the same unit of garbage. Three factors account for this: First, all combustible material in trash is burned. Second, the area is made available at no cost to commercial sand suppliers and road contractors to remove sand, thus providing an additional 100,000 cubic yards per year below-ground trash storage. Third, the filled area ends up about 30 feet higher than the original surface elevation.

Many automobiles are abandoned by owners because to them the salvage value is less than the cost of removal. The city sponsors a program to remove these at no cost to the owner.

The cost of trash disposal is 10 cents per cubic yard handled. The present 40-acre trash-disposal area was acquired in 1966 from the U.S. Forest Service through a land trade. The cost of acquiring this land was approximately $15,000.

Based on the present rate of land area used, this trash-disposal site will be adequate until 1995, provided that continuation of burning is permitted.

Operating Problems

Now, our system does not operate without problems. The major ones

are:

1. Recruiting and retention of laborers for collection crews. 2. Rising cost of labor and equipment.

3. Longer haul distance due to urban growth.

4. The increasing weight and volume of waste material per customer served.

5. Unauthorized roadside and vacant-lot dumping. A 1968 survey showed 51 unauthorized dumps in the metropolitan area of Tallahassee.

6. Removing and compacting these abandoned automobiles and other heavy abandoned items.

We seem to be living in an age of planned obsolescence where an automobile or a major appliance doesn't seem to last very long; or the cost of repairing an existing unit is almost equal to the cost of a new one and the old one has little or no salvage value.

It is probably true that most solid waste problems are solved at the local levels, because solutions have to be tailored to local means, needs, and conditions, so long as they are consistent with State Health Department objectives. However, the solutions to some problems are beyond the scope of local government.

Agency Assistance

I would like to comment a little bit on the rate of agencies. Our own Leon County Health Department has a very fine program which, hopefully, will solve the problem of unauthorized dumping.

First, they have established and maintain eight small sanitary land fills throughout the county; second, they have removed all material dumped at 35 of the 51 unauthorized dumps mentioned earlier and have effectively blocked reentry into these areas; and third, they have employed an inspector whose full-time job is to prevent unauthorized dumping.

The State has assisted, of course, with their State arthropod control program in providing financial assistance to help solve the rising cost of operation. In 1955 the State program contributed 87 cents for every dollar of local money spent on sanitary landfill operations. However, this rate of contribution has declined steadily until today it is only 12 cents on the dollar.

RESEARCH A FEDERAL FUNCTION

Now, much of the possible research in solid waste appears to be an appropriately Federal function. Many findings will be applicable to thousands of communities with equal value to all. Some of the research may involve production control; such as, reducing the bulk, weight, or durability of ultimate waste produced by an industry or packing plants whose products are shipped from one site to a thousand cities. Other research would include storage, collection, and the disposal aspects of solid waste, again yielding results of benefit to numerous communities. A city such as Tallahassee cannot mount such research programs. It can, however, modify and adapt general findings to fit its needs, and can do a limited amount of study and innovation to meet needs peculiar to its particular circumstances.

SUMMARY

Now in summary historically disposal of solid waste in Tallahassee has been by the sanitary land-fill method. Incineration was tried for one 20-year period, and failed because of overloading and also because the projected cost did not favor this method.

The land area presently owned and committed for garbage and trash disposal is adequate to meet our immediate and long-term needs. It is evident to us that the volume of solid waste generated per capita is on the increase. It is difficult to tell whether this is a longterm increase or a temporary one due to our present inflationary

Of course, the problems associated with solid waste disposal are not unlike many other environmental health problems. Solutions to these problems could have local, regional, or national implications and for this reason they should be solved by programs sponsored at all levels of government.

Senator RANDOLPH. Thank you very much, Mr. Smith. You in a sense are telling us what you have been able to do while other communities your size, although you are not saying so, haven't been able to do the same.

Now, don't misunderstand me. Orlando and Clearwater, I believe, have got about the same population you have in Tallahassee. Is that correct?

Mr. SMITH. No, sir. We are about one-sixth the population of Orlando. We have a population of about 70,000 in the city and only 85,000 in the metropolitan area. We are really a small city, going through the throes of being a large city.

Senator RANDOLPH. How about Clearwater, how would you compare it?

Mr. SMITH. I would say Clearwater probably is at this time maybe 20 percent larger than Tallahassee.

Senator RANDOLPH. You presumably have some management practices in solid waste disposal that have at least lessened your difficulties in comparison with not just the two cities I have named but others throughout the country. Is that true?

Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir. It is true. In fact, I am very glad I came here, because when I have listened to these other people, I feel as if I have had a back rub. It is real invigorating. I didn't realize the problems were really this extensive in other areas.

We are using the sanitary land-fill method because we have land available, that is, economically available, and also it is in close proximity to the city which does not pose a great burden on hauling.

Senator RANDOLPH. Now, you said you feel like you had your back rubbed and in a healthful manner?

Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir.

POSSIBLE ASSISTANCE TO OTHER COMMUNITIES

Senator RANDOLPH. Yes, but seriously, can you be of help to some of these other communities?

You are disposing of solid waste. You are taking the garbage and then you are taking from the garbage the paper and processing that paper so it can be used again. You are not trying to use. I don't know the percentage. So you must be creative. You must be resourceful.

Mr. SMITH. We felt any amount of the garbage which we could salvage and not have to dispose of on the land or through incinerators would be helpful, and I think this is possibly a very useful area the Federal Government could work in. It would be helpful to the cities if they could find some means of encouraging industries to produce packaging material which would have some ultimate salvage value. As it is now, when you have such things as refrigerators and even automobiles abandoned, they have no salvage value, and even much of the packaging material that comes to us is of such size and such weight that it has no further value. Maybe some work should be done on producing mate

rial that would have such a high salvage value that people would want to return it.

When they ship television sets in, there isn't any reason why this container shouldn't be sent back to the factory for another set to be put in and sent back to the cities. It is just a container now and after the television set is set up in the home it is discarded.

Senator RANDOLPH. We are really users, not consumers, aren't we? Mr. SMITH. Actually we say we are consumers, but really nothing is ever consumed.

Senator RANDOLPH. I call your attention to S. 2005, the Senate bill, in reference to the investigations on economical.means of recovering useful materials from solid waste, recommended uses of such material for national or international welfare, and the market impact of such recovery. Section 205, of the pending legislation, would provide for special studies and demonstrations projects on the recovery of useful materials, which, Mr. Smith, you are beginning to do. The record must reflect today that you are working on this problem and I congratulate you and those who are doing it with you.

Regardless of the size of your city, you are doing it, and it may point the way to the other cities of much larger population. Thank you very much.

(The table submitted by Mr. Smith follows:)

SOLID WASTE-PAST AND PROJECTED QUANTITIES OF GARBAGE (HOUSEHOLD AND COMMERCIAL) HANDLED OR TO BE HANDLED, AND LAND-FILL AREA REQUIREMENTS BASED ON PAST AND PROJECTED POPULATION SERVED OR TO BE SERVED

[blocks in formation]

466.6

« ForrigeFortsett »