Waste Management requests for more dump space tabled

Waste Management Inc. wants to expand its 555-acre landfill in the north part of Storey County, but the Planning Commission has put the company's plans on hold.

The commission decided Thursday to continue Waste Management's application for a special use permit to increase the boundaries of its landfill using 1,139 acres the company owns directly north of the existing landfill. Commissioners said they wanted more information on the effects of the expansion before they could approve or deny the request.

Officials of the company, which owns the Lockwood Regional Landfill, said the needed infrastructure is already in place.

Using the 1,139 acres also complies with the Washoe County Solid Waste Management Board mandate that requires Waste Management to look ahead 20 years in their planning process.

Planning Commissioners Larry Prater and Lydia Hammack both said that since the required Storey County Technical Evaluation Report was in their opinion incomplete, they felt they could not make an adequate judgment of the request.

Planning and Building Officer Dean Haymore said the report made stipulations that Waste Management will ensure the landfill could not be seen from Lockwood, Rainbow Bend or Interstate 80.

Bill Carr, district manager for the landfill, said issues of visuals should be handled at the design approval stage and not the special use permit stage.

Hammack said she would rather see the expansion on land Waste Management owned property south of the existing landfill, rather than north of the landfill.

"We need to know why they did not choose the southern site," she said. "We need to see what this will look like down the road. We have to see what they are asking us to permit."

The company owns property both to the south and east of the existing landfill, as well as the north. The majority of the 25 or so residents who spoke at the meeting said they would like to see the expansion go to the south, away from the Truckee River.

Prater said that since alternative sites weren't considered as required under EPA rules, the county could encounter legal difficulties if they proceeded without more information.

Commissioner Bret Tyler also worried about possible airborne trash, such as plastic bags, that could litter Lockwood.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or882-2111 ext. 351