By McKenna Dirks, Community Reporter
NOTE: There were several errors in an earlier version of this story, which have been corrected in the material that appears below. The CVPost regrets the original errors and thanks Kathy Campbell for pointing them out.
Negotiations on the proposed expansion of the 7-Mile Creek landfill are still in process but no immediate agreement is in sight.
The Eau Claire County Board was told in March that terms of a possible agreement were sent in February to Green for Life (GFL), the company that owns the landfill but, so far, there has been no response. The proposed expansion would increase the landfill’s size by 40% — 12.5 acres horizontally and 90 feet vertically.
A Landfill Siting Committee, established under state statute 289.33, is responsible for ensuring that such factors as public health and safety are considered in the final expansion agreement. This committee is comprised of representatives of the county, city and the town of Seymour, where the landfill is located.
Residents living near the landfill have expressed concerns about whether the terms of an eventual expansion agreement will protect them adequately. Among their questions is whether people living between three quarters of a mile and one mile from the landfill will have the same protections as those living closer.
Committee perspective
[NOTE: The CVPost attempted to contact the Siting Committee chairman, Doug Kranig, but received no response.]
Thomas Kemp, a member of the Landfill Siting Committee and chair of the Economics department at UW-Eau Claire, said he is saddened that the amount of waste produced has made it necessary for the landfill to expand yet again.
“Speaking as an economist, landfills generally have a negative impact on property values,” Kemp said in an email. “These impacts generally result from impaired visuals (they can look bad) or odors (they often smell bad).”
Kemp said as a representative of the city of Eau Claire, he works to ensure that the most affected constituencies are given due consideration and influence. He said the committee doesn’t work in the interest of the landfill, as its owners can do that.
The negotiations with GFL address such issues as environmental assurances and practices, guaranteed property values and benefits for residents near the landfill.
7-Mile Creek Landfill background
Until 1996, the landfill was owned by the county. Since then, it has been owned by three different companies: Superior Services, Advanced Disposal and GFL.
Kathy Campbell, who has lived near the landfill since 1996, said about 30% of the 2019 waste deposited in the landfill came from Minnesota and Iowa.
Campbell said that, in 2015, then-owner Advanced Disposal told residents its landfill in Wright County, Minnesota was going to be expanded, so waste would not be brought to Wisconsin any more. However, she said Minnesota is more protective of its local municipal areas, and the expansion was denied.
The company attempted another expansion of the Wright County location in 2017, but was denied again, resulting in more waste in sent to the 7-Mile Creek site.
The proposed expansion, the fourth requested in 20 years, would make for over four million additional cubic yards of waste, Campbell said.
Opposition to expansion
Campbell has taken a leading role in organizing area residents to demand various safeguards as part of any expansion. She voiced concerns with the expansion plans in a recent interview with the Chippewa Valley Post.
She said expansion plans put forth by Advanced Disposal when it owned the landsite left her questioning how these actions would affect her neighbors – perhaps creating a domino effect and leaving the neighborhood empty
She said she contacted residents within a mile to form the Seven Mile Creek Neighborhood association in 2019, and hired an attorney to represent the group;
Campbell said any expansion needs local approval, which means municipalities must approve any negotiated agreement between the committee and GFL, as outlined in state statute 289.33. This would result in a permit from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to move forward with the expansion, she said.
Expansion plans and concerns
Campbell said residents within one mile of the landfill are most concerned about poor air quality caused by dust from the hauling roads, petroleum fuel from the trucks and debris.
Since the DNR has deemed the expansion feasible in terms of its impact on natural resources, Campbell said she and other residents have been working with the state agency to ensure better air quality in the area.
The Siting Committee recently proposed that GFL provide property value protection for owners within three-quarters of a mile of the landfill, Campbell said. Previously, in November, 2019, the committee proposed that Advanced Disposal offer property value protection to owners within a mile of the site, but did not recommend that the company provide sociological impact payments to property owners.
Those payments are a set amount paid annually, taking into consideration such factors as proximity to the landfill and its adverse effects on residents. Such payments are outlined in a 2002 Wisconsin Rapids landfill agreement which set annual payment amounts at $1,650 for property owners within three-quarters of a mile of the landfill and $1,100 for owners from there out to a mile from the site.
Campbell said that when the landfill was owned by the county before 1996, owners were provided property value guarantees. That meant if a house was sold for less than it would have been worth away from the landfill, the county would pay the difference. After the landfill was sold to Superior Services in 1996, this protection was discontinued, she said.
Campbell said studies done nationally have shown that living within one mile of a high-volume landfill causes an average 14% decrease in value of a house.
Right of first refusal proposed, then withdrawn
Campbell said that if Advanced Disposal had agreed to the Siting Committee’s November, 2019 proposal for property value guarantees, it would have gained the option to “reserve the first right to purchase” the property.
That clearly didn’t sit well with many area residents, and they picketed and sent postcards and letters to the Siting Committee. Three months later, the committee removed that option from the agreement it was proposing and it has not shown up since then, Campbell said.
At the same time, the Siting Committee added sociological benefits to its proposal, but GFL has refused to offer them.
Campbell said the committee has authority, power and leverage, and she hopes it will hold out for benefits to the residents affected by the landfill.
According to its website, GFL is a North American provider of environmental solutions that offers a sophisticated approach to meeting customers’ requirements. It is based in Canada and has over 10,000 employees
[NOTE: The CVPost attempted to contact GFL, but received no response.]
Campbell said expansion will require a majority vote of the City Council, the County Board and the Town of Seymour Board. The alternative would be arbitration, in which the Wisconsin Department of Administration Waste Facility Siting Board would make the final decision.
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