Spokane Waste of Energy
Shedding Light on Spokane's overpriced Solid Waste System

Contractors on City projects dispose of solid waste into the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System. This material may go to the Waste-to-Energy plant, the Northside landfill or to Rabanco. Once waste enters the system, there are contractual obligations as to where the waste will go. For example, if waste is not able to be processed through the Waste-to-Energy plant, it could either go to the Northside Landfill or be bypassed via rail to Rabanco. 

Contractors on City projects are not required to dispose of CDL at the Northside landfill. They can dispose of CDL at any of the Regional facilities such as the Valley Transfer Station, Waste-to-Energy facility, Colbert Transfer Station or the Northside landfill depending on the nature of the waste.  A contractor within the City of Spokane may requests a roll off containing CDL be taken to the Graham Road Recycling and Disposal Facility (limited purpose landfill per WAC 173-350-400), or may request a roll off of containing inert material (as defined in WAC 173-350-410), any of the following Inert Facilities: Inland Asphalt Inert Landfill; Busy Bee Inert Landfill & Wood Recycling Co.; or Diversified Recycling Industry.
 

I have attached a copy of a City of Spokane (Code Enforcement) document that seems to contradict your previous email. This document refers to city Specification, Section III, Item 13 – which I cannot find anywhere in the Spokane Municipal Code. Could you please identify what and where in the Spokane Municipal Code the Code Enforcement Supervisor is referring to?

I would also like to re-ask my previous questions:

1. Why would the City intentionally increase their contract costs by forcing contractors to use the more expensive Northside Landfill? 

2. Why would the City fill the Northside Landfill with demolition debris when it is designated as the only Spokane County emergency Municipal Solid Waste site?
 

I can only surmise after reading the copy of the letter that you included with your email that Mr. Lanning was referring to a bid proposal. The language concerning a “specification” seems to indicate that rather than a Spokane Municipal Code.

I have talked with our Code Enforcement department and they assured me that they follow SMC 13.02.200 when issues concerning solid waste collection and disposal come up within the City of Spokane.

As for your other two questions, I would guess that if this was a court ordered demolition, that the City would desire to maintain both a chain of custody of all materials disposed of, as well as a complete accounting of all expenses associated with the demolition, in order to seek restitution from a landowner who has refused to comply with the demolition order. Perhaps our legal department could assist you with that question. As to it being more expensive, the contractor can always use the provisions of SMC 13.02.0564 to dispose of the C&D and while it is slightly more expensive that other in county alternatives, on a per cubic yard basis, when one factors in employee time and transportation costs it probably is competitive.

As for usage of the Northside Landfill, I would like to remind you that it is the only permitted Municipal Solid Waste Landfill in Spokane County. No reference that I can find designates it as an “emergency” landfill. I’m not even sure if the Spokane Regional Health District would have an “emergency” landfill permit. Rest assured that we are following both the 1992 Spokane County Comprehensive Solid Waste Plan as well as the update to the plan that was published and adopted in 1998. If you would like more information, please reference the 1998 Spokane County Comprehensive Solid Waste Plan Section 9, which addresses Landfill Disposal and discusses the Northside Landfill, as well as Section 11, which discusses C&D disposal.
 

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I would like to return the favor by attempting to clarify a few points addressed in your previous email. First, the Northside Landfill is described as an “emergency” landfill in both the 1998 and current versions of the Spokane Solid Waste Management Plans. It is designated as such because it is the only Municipal Solid Waste landfill site in the entire County. When the WTE facility breaks down for an extended period of time, and rail service is unable to handle the added load, the Northside Landfill is to act as an emergency backup. Unfortunately this scenario is becoming more and more likely as the WTE facility ages, as was illustrated during the August 29^th fire at the WTE facility this year.

Second, as you explained in you email, there is not a Spokane Municipal Code that requires private contractors to haul demolition debris from City projects to the Northside Landfill. Apparently, this is merely a policy of the City of Spokane to add demolition debris requirements into their contracts, and was probably enacted by the former Director of the Regional System, Dennis Hein, who ran the Solid Waste Department as his own little Fiefdom. Fortunately, Mr. Hein no longer works for the City of Spokane.

This is a dangerous policy that jeopardizes our ability to safely handle solid waste in case of an emergency, and it needs to be stopped. Thanks to the City of Spokane and this reckless policy, the Northside Landfill has less than 100,000 cubic yards of capacity left, barely enough to handle 50 days worth of Spokane County Municipal Solid Waste if the WTE facility were to fail. To waste this valuable space is wrong, and it is offensive to expect the residents of Spokane County to pay for an expansion of the Northside Landfill once the City of Spokane needlessly fills up the site.

Legally, any jurisdiction in Spokane County can require contractors to use the Northside Landfill, but none choose to do so, because the policy makes no sense. For some unknown reason, the City of Spokane chooses to triple their cost for CDL disposal, while squandering a valuable Regional System asset.

My questions to you are:

1. Could you please contact the parties responsible for writing RFP’s and Contracts for the City of Spokane, and determine under whose authority they add the Northside Landfill requirement?

2. Could you also let me know what steps are necessary to reverse this policy?