Bondad Landfill, the last stop for La Plata County garbage 11 miles south of Durango, has seven years before it is expected to fill up, according to Republic Services, the waste disposal company that manages the dump.
La Plata County and city of Durango officials said discussions about expansion should happen sooner rather than later.
La Plata County Commissioner Matt Salka said the county, Republic Services and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe need to be a part of the conversation because the landfill is on the reservation.
Bondad, founded in 1995 and constructed in 1997, serves residents, governments, nonprofits and businesses across La Plata County. Melissa Quillard, Republic Services spokeswoman, said the landfill’s current footprint is 34 acres on a 139-acre parcel.
She said the landfill has a maximum capacity of 3.9 million cubic yards of waste – equivalent to 325,000 dump trucks hauling 12 cubic yards of waste each. The landfill is currently 68% full, meaning nearly 2.7 million cubic yards of space, or the equivalent of 225,000 dump trucks, have been filled.
“Landfills are not fun,” Salka said. “It's not sexy. It's not something that people really think about much until it’s too late. And that's why we (have) to have these conversations now and not later.”
Salka said the landfill’s projected seven-year life span is more time than what he was told by Republic Services following its acquisition of GFL Environmental's Colorado and New Mexico operations in June 2023.
That makes him hopeful, he said.
He said improvements were made to a garbage drop-off site in west La Plata County, which calmed the nerves of residents there. At that time, Republic Services said it was looking for ways to expand its capacity and thus the landfill’s life span.
Quillard said Bondad is a unique facility and Republic Services works closely with SUIT, which operates energy production infrastructure within the site and the surrounding area.
Salka said the county, SUIT and Republic Services must engage in discussions about expansion opportunities, knowing time must be reserved for negotiations with SUIT.
Table to Farm Compost co-owner Monique DiGiorgio, who joined a group of Fort Lewis College students on a tour of Bondad Landfill last month, said contrary to what one might expect from a landfill, Bondad is a beautiful location. From the top of the site, one has a gorgeous view of the La Plata Mountains ranging from Telluride to the San Juan Mountains.
But the scene is tainted by the smell of methane, which is released from the compacted trash and debris via piping and a vent poking out of the ground atop a completed waste cell.
Mike McComb, an FLC student on the tour, said organic waste is the biggest contributor to methane at the site. As long as methane remains under 500 parts per million, the methane can simply be vented. But if methane exceeds 500 parts per million, Bondad employs a flare system to burn the gas away.
Durango Sustainability Manager Marty Pool said an expansion of Bondad Landfill or the construction of a new landfill can have different financial impacts to customers depending on whether a landfill is publicly or privately operated.
A publicly operated landfill’s expansion would likely be funded through some sort of tax measure approved by voters, such as a bond, he said. Since Bondad is privately owned and operated, expansion and/or construction costs would be realized in the city’s waste collection fees.
“The city has to pay that added cost through our contracts or operations, and we would pass that cost on to our businesses and residents through an increase in the trash fee,” he said. “... Cost will go up one way or another, whether it's through taxes or through increased fees.”
The further collections have to travel to pick up and dump waste also drives costs up, he said.
DiGiorgio said she learned 40 acres of land can fit three cells, technically called waste-holding units, and it costs Bondad about $2.5 million to develop each cell.
McComb added it takes about 1½ years to have a cell approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
She said organic waste typically makes up about 30% to 40% of waste disposed into a landfill. Diverting organic waste from landfills to composting efforts, for example, extends the life of landfills and delays the construction of new cells, saving customers money.
Pool said construction waste is likely the largest contributor to the increase of waste at Bondad, based on his conversations with site operators.
Regional population growth has produced more construction materials, which are bulky and hard to compact, he said, so they take up more space than other waste that can be crushed and compressed.
McComb said site operators told him the construction materials leftover when the former Miller Middle School building in Durango was demolished last year quickly filled space at Bondad.
“He really regrets when they get a lot of construction debris, because that fills things fast,” he said. “I know this myself from having built a home myself. It just kills you when you see the amount of construction waste.”
Pool said construction waste is an interesting factor to consider, and recycling more construction waste is something the community should look into.
Composters can collaborate with landfills to expand their life spans, reducing operating costs and creating agricultural commodities out of organic wastes that would only rot and produce methane if left in landfills.
“We're all part of the same team. And I would love it if the community (saw) that,” DiGiorgio said. “And I would love it if the businesses that were all part of waste management could see that we're all tied together that way.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
