Officials discuss opening landfill question to vote

The idea of bringing the whole county together in a single solution for solid waste disposal has been raised several times since the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) began its push to close unlined landfills, but has always failed to gain traction.

With enough time under people’s belts to have seen the repercussions of no longer having a landfill in the county, Sundance Mayor Paul Brooks and Commissioner Fred Devish are hoping that, this time, it might be possible to get the question in front of voters.

Brooks raised the question with Devish at last week’s council meeting, explaining that the impact on Sundance is increasing.

People from outside town are dropping off “pretty substantial amounts of garbage” at the transfer station, he said, and this brings up a couple of problems.

Firstly, Brooks said, the construction and debris pit has finite space, so the council may need to consider whether it should be reserved for the residents whose tax money goes towards funding the city.

Secondly, he said, the city runs a “shoestring operation” for its garbage services to keep costs as low as possible and its truck is “not what it used to be”, which means the transfer station is not set up to accept and then haul refuse from an everincreasing number of people.

Brooks spoke to the issue of residents all across the county no longer having an easily reached destination for larger items, such as furniture. This kind of debris inevitably ends up being dumped in culverts and alongside roads, he said.

“When you see recliners at the DOT rest stops, you know you’ve got a problem,” he said.

As the population of Crook County continues to rise, Brooks stated that he anticipates the number of people from outside town who want to make use of the city’s facility will do the same.

“The problem is not getting better, it’s getting worse – and it’s going to continue to get worse,” he said.

Devish responded that his position on the matter has not changed: he was and still is supportive of getting the question on the ballot so that Crook County’s citizens can decide for themselves.

Council Member Joe Wilson, who has continued to keep track of the garbage problem and possible solutions over the years, confirmed that this was the case. He told his fellow council members that Devish was sympathetic to the idea of a district and voted in favor of putting the question to voters the last time discussions were held.

Throughout the various negotiations that have taken place over the years, most recently at the end of 2020, supporters have said they would like to see all four towns and the county come together to create a solid waste district that would take on the burden of solid waste collection, using Moorcroft’s landfill as a dumping site.

The district would raise a mill levy to construct the facility, but this would sunset out once those costs had been paid, said Wilson. At that time, the intent would be for the service to pay for itself.

The idea has been bandied around since the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) began to mandate the closure of unlined landfills across the state, forcing towns to transfer their refuse to regional landfills instead.

It was fist discussed in detail in 2015, but placed on the backburner when it proved difficult to reach a consensus that each of the county’s entities felt they would benefit from equally.

Moorcroft and Sundance have consistently supported the idea of a district; Sundance because it was one of the earliest municipalities to close its landfill and could already see the impacts, and Moorcroft because the town would have liked its landfill to remain open and become the focal point for the proposed district.

During last week’s conversation, Devish agreed with Brooks that partnership and cooperation are likely the best route forward on the issue and noted that Moorcroft continued to try hard to keep its landfill open even after the county turned down the idea of a district.

He also pointed out that there will likely still be opposition. Pine Haven and Hulett are happy with their garbage contracts, he said, and see no reason to worry about where their refuse goes once it is loaded into a truck and taken outside town limits.

That’s the trouble with the staggered closure dates, Brooks lamented. The DEQ did not demand the closure of all landfills at the same time, which meant not everyone was looking at the same picture.

To kick start a new round of negotiations, Wilson offered to speak to the county commissioners. Devish suggested that the council should get in touch with Moorcroft to ascertain the current situation; the property remains permitted as a landfill at this time, he said, which should speed the paperwork if a district goes forward.