WASTE MANAGEMENT APPLIES FOR EXPANSION AT TONTITOWN
LANDFILL
TONTITOWN, AR - July 28, 2004 -- This week Waste
Management will file with the Arkansas Department of Environmental
Quality (ADEQ) permit modification applications to expand
the Tontitown Landfill in Washington County.
The filings include detailed design and operation plans for a lateral expansion of the existing Class 1 landfill permitted area by approximately 55 acres on property presently owned by Waste Management. The applications also provide for additional disposal capacity resulting from a vertical expansion of the currently permitted areas. With the expansion, the facility will retain approximately 400 acres designated as buffer area around the landfill.
The filings are the next step in the expansion process that began with a pre-application
in 2002 and included a June 2003 public meeting and site
evaluation by the ADEQ. After completing the site evaluation
and reviewing comments from the public meeting, the ADEQ
Solid Waste Division determined the proposed expansion
site is suitable for a solid waste disposal facility.
"The expansion of the Tontitown Landfill is designed to
accommodate the significant growth in Northwest Arkansas
and the quality of life that accompanies this progress,"
says Roger Lawrence, Waste Management Market Area Manager.
The Milken Institute recently ranked the Fayetteville,
Springdale and Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area as
the nation's top performer in 2003 for job growth.
The Tontitown Landfill currently consists of 66 acres, with remaining permitted capacity of approximately two years. Based on the projected volume of waste to be generated in the Tri-County Solid Waste District, Waste Management's proposed expansion will provide approximately 13 additional years of capacity. The Tri-County Solid Waste District projects that nearly 476,000 tons of waste will be generated from Benton, Madison and Washington Counties in 2005.
The regulations under which the Tontitown Landfill is permitted and operated are some of the strictest in the nation. The filings include extensive design plans and specifications, operational plans, hydrogeologic and geotechnical information, as well as detailed environmental monitoring programs and closure plan for the expansion areas.
The Tontitown facility covers 543 acres of land, of which 66 acres are currently permitted as a Class 1 landfill, which accepts non-hazardous household, commercial and industrial waste. Twenty-eight acres are permitted as a Class 4 landfill, which accepts construction and demolition debris. Also located at the Tontitown facility are a yard waste composting center and the Northwest Arkansas Hauling Company.
Waste Management will host a public Open House meeting at the Tontitown Landfill from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 26. The meeting will be held at the Waste Management Tontitown Landfill and Northwest Arkansas Hauling Company facility located at 11979 Arbor Acres Road. Company officials will answer questions about its expansion plans and environmental monitoring programs, as well as provide tours of the landfill.
More information on the Tontitown Landfill is available
at a newly created website located at http://tontitown.wm.com.
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