-
855-386-7411
( your pin: d1 )
 |
 Verified Customer
|
 |
“Outstanding service. They were extremely careful delivering the extra large container into our driveway.” -- A. L. GARNER
It is also one of the simplest actions that our community can take to address climate change. YVSC's report provides suggestions on how Routt County can move forward to increase waste diversion: developing local policies and improving infrastructure to support waste diversion; creating strong partnerships to build stable and predictable regional waste diversion programs and developing long-term strategic plans to meet statewide diversion goals.Waste diversion is a key piece of an economically sustainable community, especially one that thrives on outdoor tourism. Cultural heritage, resort guest expectations, state mandates and climate action all demand we prioritize best practices in waste diversion.With strong government leadership and local collaboration, Routt County can model successful waste diversion programs for other rural communities, putting our community in a unique position to both protect and promote our natural resources in an economically feasible way.YVSC invites the community to review the report at yvsc.org/wastediversionreport and provide us with your feedback. In early 2018, YVSC will be working with Routt County to develop and facilitate a waste diversion strategic planning committee. Interested community members are encouraged to contact cameron@yvsc.org to learn more and get involved.Sarah Jones is a member of the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council. (Steamboat Pilot & Today)
Landfill gas produced by waste contains high concentrations of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that Argonne says warms the climate about 30 times more than carbon dioxide. Although operators of large landfills are required to combust landfill gas, collecting all of it is impossible, resulting in large amounts of methane escaping into the atmosphere, according to Argonne.In 2014, about 70 trillion pounds of waste wound up in landfills in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy. The following year, the amount of greenhouse gases that escaped from landfills in the U.S. had the same global warming impact as 29 million passenger vehicles, according to calculations by Lee based on data from the Environmental Protection Agency.There are, however, several methods for transforming waste into fuel, such as hydrothermal liquefaction and gasification. The resulting energy products include natural gas, bio-char, bio-oil and hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.“By using waste to produce energy, we can avoid emissions from landfills and potentially reduce the need for additional landfills across the country,” Lee said.Lee’s study also found that waste can be collected using existing infrastructure for collection and separation, which further lowers the cost for energy produced from waste.Contact Alex Ruppenthal: @arupp aruppenthal@wttw.com (773) 509-5623Related stories:Where Does Chicago’s Garbage Go? June 26: Chicagoans dump more than 800,000 tons of garbage into their bins every year, but once city garbage trucks leave the alley, most of us have no idea where it all goes. We follow the trail.Chicago’s Trash Doesn’t Go to Waste at Pontiac Landfill June 26: About 5,000 tons of trash from the Chicago area is dumped every day at a landfill in Livingston County, but hardly any of it goes to waste. How yesterday’s trash becomes tomorrow’s energy.‘I Lost My Wedding Ring’ and Other Stories of Chicago’s Accidental Trash June 26: From lost jewelry to criminal evidence, a Pontiac landfill that receives trash from Chicago has plenty of bizarre waste stories. (Chicago Tonight | WTTW)
PAYT system. This equates to a 4.5 percent reduction in energy used by every home in Belmont, he said.“We are in a climate crisis. I am doing this for my daughter and her generation. Trash has a huge impact on our climate,” said Slack.He said the goal of PAYT is not just to increase recycling but also to drive down trash. He said 147 communities have implemented PAYT successfully.“There’s a way to make it revenue neutral so the average resident gets back what they paid in,” he said.Slack concluded his presentation by presenting a petition to the Selectmen with 121 signatures from residents in support of PAYT.Energy Committee Chairman Roger Colton, who also supports PAYT, gave a presentation explaining how PAYT could be implemented once a trash collection system is in place. He recommended rolling it out in 2019 to eliminate conflict with the new collection system.“It would be administratively infeasible to implement automated and PAYT simultanesiouly,” said Colton.Public Works Director Jay Marcotte said he recommended selectmen support the 64-gallon barrel. He said Burlington went from the current trash collection method Belmont has to an automated system with a 64-gallon barrel and has seen a 24 percent reduction in trash generated by residents. He said a similar change in Belmont would keep the town’s streets neat and tidy and reduce the town’s cost of trash collection.Residents voice concerns about PAYT and automated collectionLinda Oates, Precinct 6 Town Meeting member, said she is opposed to automated trash collection and PAYT. She is concerned elderly residents will have difficulty dragging the barrels out to their curbs. She also said it would be an additional household expense for residents.“If you're going to put that kind of burden on the populace, I suggest doing it as an override and deducting it from the real estate taxes,” she said.Steve Rosales, Precinct 8 Town Meeting member who grew up in Belmont, also said he was opposed to PAYT.“That’s an underhanded way of an override without a vote. I find great offense in that,” he said, adding if PAYT is implemented he will never vote for another override again.Judith Ananian Sarno, Precinct 3 Town Meeting member said she favors the current trash collection system and is against PAYT. She said many of her constituents did not feel well-informed about the options they were considering and urged them not to vote.“Instead, make a greater effort to inform the public of these proposals and get input,” she said.Sarno also said she did not think the automated trash collection method would work in Belmont due to the cars parked on residential streets, many of which belong to commuters. Belmont does not have an ordinance like Watertown that prohibits more than two hour parking on residential streets, she added.“A lot of people are going to be unhappy. Th... (Wicked Local Belmont)
Staff / Houston Chronicle Image 8 of 10In this Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, photo, Blatt helps his neighbor Tamlyn Lima collect golf clubs from debris piled in front of her home in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. Harvey's record-setting rains now have the potential to set records for the amount of debris one storm can produce. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) lessIn this Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2... (San Antonio Express-News (subscription))
Republicans are likely to approve a less severe reduction.Like Trump, Pruitt has expressed skepticism about the predictions of climate scientists that warmer air and seas will produce stronger, more drenching storms.Under the Obama administration, the EPA conducted a nationwide assessment of the increased threat to Superfund sites posed by climate change, including rising sea levels and stronger hurricanes. Of the more than 1,600 sites reviewed as part of the 2012 study, 521 were determined to be in 1-in-100 year and 1-in-500 year flood zones. Nearly 50 sites in coastal areas could also be vulnerable to rising sea levels.The threats to human health and wildlife from rising waters that inundate Superfund sites vary widely depending on the specific contaminants and the concentrations involved. The EPA report specifically noted the risk that floodwaters might carry away and spread toxic materials over a wider area.The report listed two dozen Superfund sites determined to be especially vulnerable to flooding and sea-level rise. The only one in Texas, the Bailey Waste Disposal site south of Beaumont, is on a marshy island along the Neches River. The National Weather Service said the Neches was expected to crest on Saturday at more than 21 feet above flood stage — 8 feet higher than the prior record.In Crosby, across the San Jacinto River from Houston, a small working-class neighborhood sits between two Superfund sites, French LTD and the Sikes Disposal Pits.The area was wrecked by Harvey's floods. Only a single house from among the roughly dozen lining Hickory Lane was still standing.After the water receded on Friday, a sinkhole the size of a swimming pool had opened up and swallowed two cars. The acrid smell of creosote filled the air.Rafael Casas' family had owned a house there for two decades, adjacent to the French LTD site. He said he was never told about the pollution risk until it came up in an informal conversation with a police officer who grew up nearby. Most of the homes had groundwater wells, but Casas said his family had switched to bottled water."You never know what happens with the pollution under the ground," said Casas, 32. "It filters into the water system."The water had receded by Saturday at Brio Refining Inc. and Dixie Oil Processors, a pair of neighboring Superfund sites about 20 miles southeast of downtown Houston in Friendswood. The road was coated in a layer of silt. Mud Gully Stream, which bisects the two sites, was full and flowing with muddy water.Both sites were capped with a liner and soil as part of EPA-supervised cleanup efforts aimed at preventing the contamination from spreading off the low-lying sites during floods. Parts of the Brio site were elevated by 8 feet.John Danna, the manager hired by the companies to oversee the sites, said in a phone interview that he went there after the storm and saw no signs of erosion. He said he didn't know how high the flooding got in Harvey's wake and that no testing of the water still draining from the area had been conducted. EPA staff are expected to visit in the next week, he said.A security guard at the Patrick Bayou Superfund site, just off the Houston Ship Channel in Deer Park, said Saturday that flooding came hundreds of feet inland during the storm. The water has since receded back into the bayou, where past testing has shown the sediments contain pesticides, toxic heavy metals and PCBs. The site, surrounded by active petrochemical facilities, is still awaiting a final plan for cleanup.The San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund site was completely covered with floodwaters when an AP reporter saw it Thursday. According to its website, the EPA was set to make a final decision this year about a proposed $97 million cleanup effort to remove toxic waste from a paper mill that operated there in the 1960s.The flow from the raging river washing ove... (New Jersey Herald)
