Will County plans for landfill expansion

Will County is eying expansion of its Prairie View Landfill, which has been operating for almost 20 years.

The landfill in Wilmington still has about 10 years of capacity left, county officials say. But the process of getting a state EPA permit is a long one, and county officials said they have to get started if they want to expand.

“We have land that we’re currently not using for the landfill around it,” said County Board Chairwoman Judy Ogalla, R-Monee. “I think we should (expand).”

At the August County Board meeting, Ogalla brought a proposal for creation of a Landfill Committee that was turned down by a margin of one vote.

Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Democrat, cast a tie-breaking vote that went along party lines.

Bertino-Tarrant later said she was concerned that the proposal would change the current procedure for landfill issues to be reviewed by an existing Public Works & Transportation Committee.

“There was not a full vetting of everything that was being changed,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “I think there was some confusion on what the board was voting on.”

She did say, however, that the county needs to start looking at the expansion question.

Ogalla called the vote against the committee “political” but acknowledged there may have been confusion. That, she said, was cleared up at a committee-of-the-whole meeting last week, and Ogalla expects the Landfill Committee to be approved in September.

Even without the expansion question pending, Ogalla said a Landfill Committee is needed. She said the County Board has not been getting updates and audits on landfill operations, and a Landfill Committee would create “more transparency for everyone.”

The process for obtaining an EPA permit for expansion takes an average of seven to nine years, said Michael Theodore, spokesman for the county executive’s office.

The Prairie View Landfill opened Jan. 19, 2004.

The landfill now sits on 223 acres with a total waste capacity of 33.8 million cubic yards, according to information supplied by Theodore.

The landfill generates $5 million in revenue for local taxing bodies, including $4 million for the county, and is believed to reduce waste hauling costs for local residents by providing a disposal site nearby.

Fifteen counties have access to the landfill, although Will County has “first priority,” Theodore said. Waste Management operates the landfill by a contract with the county.

Last year, a plant converting methane into renewable natural gas opened at the landfill. That plant is producing another $500,000 a month for the county, Theodore said.