Though Kent County hopes eventually to all but stop sending trash to landfills, the county is asking for permission this year to expand both the height and footprint of its South Kent Landfill located in Byron Township.
The facility, the only landfill currently accepting municipal solid waste in Kent County, is south of 100th Street along U.S. 131 at 13300 South Kent Drive SW. It is operated by the Kent County Department of Public Works in conjunction with the county incinerator — or waste-to-energy facility — and its recycling plant.
The county is asking the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for permission to expand the footprint for municipal solid waste disposal by 8.5 acres and to increase the permitted height for both the solid waste and incinerator ash sections.
If approved later this year by the state, the county’s request would expand the area permitted for disposal of solid waste from 143.32 acres to 151.82 acres, said Kristen Wieland, a spokesperson for the Kent County Department of Public Works. It would also increase the volume available for solid waste and incinerator ash by more than 2 million cubic yards.
A decision on the request is expected this fall. A public hearing on the request is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 18, at Byron Township Hall, 8085 Byron Center Ave. SW in Byron Center.
The need for more space to dispose of ash from the incinerator — or waste-to-energy facility — is the driving force behind the request to expand the landfill’s permit, Wieland said.
“The original permit had specific heights that we were allowed to reach,” she said. “It’s really just modifying our existing permit.”
Recent projections show the landfill has enough capacity to accept solid waste for nine more years, but Wieland said the available space for incinerator ash will run out even sooner.
The proposed changes to the facility’s DEQ permit would increase the volume available for incinerator ash by 337,928 cubic yards and the volume available for solid waste by about 1.78 million cubic yards, Wieland said.
“This expansion vertically will give us a little more breathing room,” she said. “This expansion will give us an estimated 9 1/2 years of capacity.”
County officials think the expansion will get the county almost to 2030, a date by which Kent County hopes reduce the garbage entering its landfill by 90 percent.
To read the full story, visit http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/07/kent_county_seeks_expansion_of.html.