Rodman landfill expansion likely

The Development Authority of the North Country may be nearing a mitigation plan that would allow expansion of the regional landfill in Rodman.

At a board meeting Wednesday morning, E. William Seifried, general manager of the solid waste management facility, said DANC is working with Ducks Unlimited on an off-site mitigation plan.

The 100-acre southern expansion of the landfill would affect 12.5 acres of federally listed wetlands. Because of that, DANC needs a mitigation plan for about 24 acres approved by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The expansion would extend the life of the landfill; at current rates in current bounds, it would fill in 2018. With the expansion, it wouldn't fill until 2065.

Without the expansion, "It's the people of Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties and the city of Watertown who will no longer have a place to put their trash," said non-voting board member John B. Johnson Jr. Mr. Johnson is the editor and co-publisher of the Watertown Daily Times.

The Corps suggested Ducks Unlimited because it wanted some off-site plan for mitigation. The mitigation must be in the Sandy Creek watershed because the landfill is in that watershed.

Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit wetland habitat restoration and preservation organization, "has instant credibility with the Corps and that's important," Mr. Seifried said.

Ducks Unlimited has submitted an off-site mitigation plan to DANC, which it would pass on to the Corps. One possible site for rehabilitating wetlands is near Southwick Beach State Park. The plan would include a combination of private and public land mitigation and about five years of maintenance.

DANC began working on the landfill expansion project five years ago, Mr. Seifried said, and he hopes the authority will have approval for the mitigation project and a wetlands permit by the end of this year.

"This has been a very time-consuming process," he said.

After the federal permit, DANC will need a landfill permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Also at the meeting, engineer Carrie A. Tuttle shared the Warneck Pump Station renovation and expansion plans.

DANC plans to renovate the station, on Route 37 in the town of Pamelia, adding 809 square feet plus a warehouse behind the current building of about 5,800 square feet.

The additions would create a reception area and enough storage space for equipment for the water and wastewater and telecommunications divisions. Renovations would allow staff to have offices and conference space away from workshop and pump rooms.

"We have noise and odor issues," Mrs. Tuttle said.

The project is expected to cost about $1.87 million and Mrs. Tuttle said DANC is pursuing grants and government funding. The planning and design work is expected to take another year, with construction beginning in May 2010 and ending in 2011.