By Sara Strong
The Rock County Board Tuesday passed a resolution supporting the theory of a waste-to-energy trash burning facility in Lamberton, which is in Redwood County.
The project is essentially an economic development opportunity for Redwood County and its immediate neighbors, but Redwood County Commissioner Brian Kletscher said it will impact on the entire region.
The facility would burn municipal solid waste rather than burying it in the landfill. It eliminates ground contamination and the energy from burning can be captured to create energy.
The project is just in the beginning stages and organizers are starting to look for funding and are commissioning a feasibility study. If all goes as planned, it could take five years before a facility is operating.
Kletscher said he felt regional support could make a difference in grants or state funding to get the $22 million to $26 million facility underway.
The impact on Rock County could come in the form of slightly increased tipping fees. Project planners estimate that fees could exceed the $45 per ton that the county pays to deposit landfill material at the Lyon County landfill.
Lyon County supports this waste to power project because the state's furthering restrictions on landfills make them difficult to permit.
Rock County Board Chair Jane Wildung said public support for the project will come down to immediate economic impact on the county budget.
She said constituents will like the concept of environmentalism, but if the countyÕs fees see marked increases, people will object.
Presenters to the county board sited economic advantages to reducing landfill usage. Liability for environmental problems is a costly venture, where the burning facilities are shown to be an environmental advantage.
Southwest and south central Minnesota generate 750 tons of municipal solid waste, or garbage, a day. That doesnÕt count individual dumps owned by farmers or demolition material buried in landfills.
The immediate southwest region produces 250 tons a day. The proposed burning facility would burn up to 200 tons a day so the need for landfills would still exist, but on a limited basis.
Farmers may see state burning restrictions and contribute more to the garbage total in the future and with increased individual garbage production, Kletscher said the need for the facility is conservative.
Environmental impacts are the primary purpose for building these burning facilities, of which the state of Minnesota has 13. The energy created is considered renewable and reduces the need for other fossil fuels.
The state is now studying using ash leftover from the garbage burns as a roadway material.
It reduces methane gas release from decomposing waste. Methane gas has been associated with global warming. These environmental concerns, combined with the almost elimination of ground contamination prompted the Rock County Board to support the concept.
The board's support of the facility was not a financial commitment. Board members indicated that financial requests would be difficult for them to support.