The ‘Dump’ and Novato’s environmental choices
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 3:10 PM PDT

No Wetlands Landfill Expansion Chairman Christopher Gilkerson

Of the commercial enterprises in the Novato area, the Redwood Landfill poses the greatest risks to our environment, our physical and financial health and global warming. The April 18 issue of the Advance discussed the dump as one of the “choices” we have in Novato when it comes to dealing with “waste.” Over the next few months the Marin County Board of Supervisors and its Community Development Agency face choices on the dump’s expansion plan, and these decisions will dramatically increase or decrease future risks to Novato residents.

Expansion into a regional dump is a choice the landfill’s owner, Waste Management, Inc. (WMI), has doggedly pursued since it bought the dump in the early 1990s. WMI wants to create about the tallest man-made edifice between Novato and Oregon, a 16 story mountain of trash. One of the largest corporations in America and operator of over 250 dumps, WMI has paid over $20 million in fines and another $60 million in assumed or shared liability for landfill clean-ups in the last 5 years alone.

WMI’s local engineer tries to downplay the scope of the dump, saying that it is “a small landfill.” Even if true today, it won’t be when WMI is finished. With the smallest expansion WMI is pushing for, the total permitted capacity would grow from about 19 million cubic yards to over 26 million cubic yards. It takes in more waste today than landfills in Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo and Del Norte counties. Over 50 percent of the trash dumped at Redwood is trucked in from outside Marin, attracted by relatively low tipping fees due to weaker environmental controls compared to other locations. Garbage importation to Marin could increase considerably with expansion.

It would be hard to imagine a worse choice in terms of environmental location. The dump is on top of old sloughs up against the largest tidal marsh in California draining into the Petaluma River and Bay. It rests below sea-level, on Bay mud, is no more than 2 feet above groundwater in places, has no liner, and is 10 feet away from San Antonio Creek, in a floodplain between two major earthquake faults. Fifty more years of rising sea and the landfill will be a garbage island surrounded by Bay water.

Independent landfill experts we’ve consulted agree that all dumps ultimately will fail to contain their pollutants, and the only question is when. The risk is clear: toxic substances will leach out of the waste pile into the wetlands or groundwater. This could be precipitated by an earthquake or flood. The Novato City Council’s strong resolution opposing expansion focused on this risk in 2005 .

The dump is also the largest man-made emitter of greenhouse gas in Marin. Of the 1,290 tons of garbage dumped at Redwood everyday, over 50 percent is green and organic waste that could be composted and returned to the soil elsewhere. The materials we put in our ‘green bins’ goes in the dump even though it counts toward Marin’s diversion numbers. As it decomposes, green and organic waste creates methane gas, which is the second greatest contributor to climate change behind carbon dioxide. In fact, methane is 21 times more potent when it comes to global warming than carbon dioxide. It is estimated that landfills contribute up to 10 percent of all greenhouse gases. A flare burns off some of the methane at the dump, but according to experts, it may capture just 20 to 25 percent of the emissions.

Even a theoretical methane gas-to-energy project WMI often touts as a “green” option would capture only a fraction of the methane. A truly green solution would be to ban the dumping of organic matter, including its use as “daily cover.”

Other than WMI’s quest to bolster corporate coffers, there is no urgency to approve expansion and the environmental and health risks it poses. All of Marin’s garbage disposal needs are met today with capacity to spare. Under the current permit Redwood still has 17 years of capacity, if it would just stop importing other counties’ trash.

There are alternatives to pursue in the meantime. Just last week Novato adopted a resolution committing to a Zero Waste goal by 2020. It followed on the heels of the Marin County Board of Supervisors adopting a similar resolution.

With the upcoming choices on expansion, there is a lot at stake for Novato residents: the health, environmental, and financial well-being of our kids and grandkids. Our new Green Coalition for Responsible Waste / Resource Management believes county officials should uphold four key principles as they consider the choices.

First, Marin must ban green and organic waste from the dump and promote countywide composting alternatives. Other progressive jurisdictions around the world have done the same.

Second, Marin must insist on the strongest of earthquake, clean air, groundwater, and flood protections.

Third, Marin must adopt a mitigation fee to discourage out-of-county waste and fund zero waste initiatives such as a resource recovery park to extract reusable materials before dumping. The fee can also pay for an independent monitor who reports directly to the community, like Alameda County has to monitor WMI’s Altamont Landfill. Today less than 1 percent of all trucks are inspected, and WMI itself is in charge of testing for groundwater contamination. We need more assurances.

Fourth, Marin must insist that WMI put up a real financial guarantee to pay for the environmental disaster that is likely to occur after the dump closes in twenty years, so Marin’s taxpayers – our kids – don’t get stuck with the multi-million dollar clean-up bill.

The Board of Supervisors promised to hold a public meeting on these issues, and there will soon be a hearing before the County Planning Commission on the expansion’s Environmental Impact Report. We hope WMI will explain its position on the four principles. For more information about the dump, its risks and alternatives, upcoming hearings, and the new Green Coalition, go to www.noexpansion.org.

The choice is Marin’s, and Novato residents must voice their opinions now.

Christopher Gilkerson is a Novato lawyer.