You asked about plans for a solid waste transfer station in Wallingford, and about transfer station permitting in general. You also asked how the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA) compensates towns in which it locates transfer stations.

SUMMARY

CRRA is exploring the possibility of replacing its Wallingford Resource Recovery Facility (RRF) with a transfer station when its contract with the RRF operator and the five towns that send their waste to the RRF expires in 2010. The transfer station would be built in Wallingford on a CRRA-owned site about 1,000 feet southwest of the RRF. If CRRA decides to build the transfer station, it must obtain a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permit, a process that DEP states could take at least 12 to 18 months. The law requires the DEP commissioner, when deciding whether to permit a new transfer station, to determine whether it would cause disproportionately high adverse human health or environmental effects. By law, she may hold a hearing on the permit application if she believes it is in the public interest. She must hold a hearing if at least 25 people request one. We have attached a copy of the law and regulations concerning such permits.

CGS § 22a-270 authorizes CRRA to make payments in lieu of taxes for property it acquires in a town. Traditionally, these have been subject to negotiation. CRRA, which pays Wallingford about $ 1. 3 million a year for the RRF, has not yet discussed similar compensation for a transfer station.

CRRA AND THE WALLINGFORD PROJECT

Background

CRRA, a quasi-public agency, manages solid waste disposal for 118 Connecticut towns through four trash-to-energy plants. One of these is the Wallingford Project, whose RRF processes 420 tons of solid waste daily, generating 11 megawatts of renewable energy that CRRA sells to the Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P). The Wallingford Project serves the towns of Cheshire, Hamden, Meriden, North Haven, and Wallingford. Covanta Energy, Inc. operates the plant for CRRA. CRRA's contracts with the five towns and Covanta expire in 2010.

Future Plans for the RRF

According to CRRA, two key factors in deciding whether to continue with the RRF or replace it with a regional transfer station are the expiration (1) in 2009 of a very favorable electrical energy purchase agreement with CL&P, and (2) in 2010 of is contract with Covanta.

The CL&P contract obligates the company to purchase electricity generated by the RRF at rates that are substantially higher than current market rates. This revenue stream allows CRRA to charge Wallingford Project towns a per-ton tipping fee of $ 58 in FY 07, the lowest of any CRRA trash-to-energy facility. However, in July 2009 the favorable contract rates will drop to the prevailing market rates, resulting in a significant drop in revenue.

In 2010, CRRA's contract with Covanta expires. If CRRA exercises its option to extend this contract, the operating fee it pays Covanta may significantly increase. CRRA says it is now negotiating with Covanta to determine if it will be economically feasible for it to continue operating the RRF.

According to CRRA, the drop in revenue from electricity sales and the expected increase in plant operating costs may require it to substantially increase the tipping fee, making the RRF less attractive to the member towns. (CRRA Director of Environmental Affairs Peter Egan estimates that in central Connecticut it now costs about $ 75 per ton to ship waste from a transfer station out of state. )

CRRA has met with representatives of the five towns and, with their approval, is pursuing a two-pronged approach regarding future resources recovery. On the one hand, CRRA is negotiating with Covanta for a more favorable rate structure. On the other, CRRA has begun exploring the possibility of siting and building a transfer station on CRRA-owned property in Wallingford. CRRA states that it could take 30 months from the start of the siting process to completion of a transfer station. Authority representatives emphasize that a transfer station is only one possible option at this point. According to CRRA, the final decision on how to proceed rests with the member towns.

Transfer Station Plans and Permitting Process

CRRA's Egan states that a transfer station, if built, would be located on a 45-acre site CRRA owns near the RRF. (He said CRRA did not consider siting the transfer station in another town because it already owned the Wallingford site. )

Although it would probably accept a daily average of between 460 and 470 tons of waste, the transfer station would be designed to accept as much as 800 to 900 tons daily. The waste would be shipped from the transfer station to disposal sites either in Connecticut or out of state.

By law, no one may build a solid waste facility, including a transfer station, without a DEP permit. Robert Isner, director of the DEP's solid waste permitting unit, states that the process could take at least 12 to 18 months. Isner said DEP would treat the application as a completely new application, regardless of the presence of the existing RRF.

The application for such a permit must include a closure plan and the appropriate fee. The law specifically requires the commissioner, when deciding whether to permit a new transfer station, to determine whether it would cause disproportionately high adverse human health or environmental effects (CGS § 22a-208a(a)).

State regulations require that notice of the permit application appear in a local newspaper, after which interested people have 30 days to submit written comments (Conn. Agency Regs. § 22a-209-4(b) (3)). By law, the DEP commissioner may hold a hearing on the permit application if she believes it would be in the public interest. But she must hold a hearing (1) if at least 25 people petition for one or (2) if the application is for a new solid waste disposal area (CGS § 22a-208a (e)). Solid waste disposal areas are those (1) that dispose of more than 10 cubic yards of solid waste, and (2) where solid waste is intentionally left indefinitely, or from which it is not removed within 45 days (CGS § 22a-207 (6)). State regulations prohibit transfer stations from storing solid waste longer than 48 hours, with the exception of legal holiday weekends, unless the

commissioner authorizes otherwise (Conn. Agency Regs § 22a-209-9 (g) (1)). According to CRRA, most waste brought to the transfer station would be shipped out in less than a day.

We have attached DEP regulations which spell out the permit requirements in more detail. Among the information applicants must provide the commissioner are detailed drawings and specifications of site structures, the approximate volume of each waste type to be handled, a list of facility users and towns served, and contingency plans for periods of shut down or break down. In addition, a transfer station also must comply with specific requirements governing such characteristics as access, enclosure, screening, storage, litter control, and air quality (Conn. Agency Regs. §§ 22a-209-4 and 22a-209-9).

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