PHASE I

Introduction
The 250,000 residents of the Salinas Valley produce about 900 tons of garbage per day. The three disposal sites, however, are not bottomless pits. The SVSWA has embarked on a project to find a new landfill site to supplement the capacity of the three existing landfills. As well as developing additional ways to increase recycling.

Solid Waste Task Force
In December 2002, the Authority Board passed a resolution to establish a multi-jurisdictional Task Force to assist them with the identification, evaluation and development of supplemental solid waste capacity. Supplemental Capacity Task Force members were appointed from city and county officials of the member agencies, as well as a pool of local citizens who reflect the diverse geographical and demographic background of the community of the Salinas Valley.

View Task Force Members
View past meeting agendas and minutes

Methodology
Brown, Vence Associates (BVA) was retained to assist the Task Force in formulating the landfill siting methodology, developing a rating system, and implementing the decision making process. The goals and objectives of the landfill siting project were:

• Identification of potential landfill sites for supplemental capacity within one year.
• Qualifying the potential sites for a full environmental review within two years of finding the sites.
• Full permitting and construction of a new site for available use within 15 years.

The Task Force’s first step was to exclude areas of SVSWA’s service area, which were unsuitable for the establishment of a sanitary landfill. This was accomplished by reviewing federal and state regulations, statutory planning provisions within the jurisdiction, and the physical characteristics required for siting a landfill. In an effort to further preserve the quality of life of the Salinas Valley residents, the Task Force developed additional exclusionary criteria, based on social and environmental priorities of the residents, which ultimately defined the landfill siting area. As a result of applying all the exclusionary criteria, the targeted siting area was limited to south of King City from Highway 101 to the eastern Monterey County line. The following diagram will give you a visual representation of the Landfill Siting Methodology.

Site Visits
Sixty-one potential canyons were targeted for the initial site visits and over twenty-two were eliminated due to developmental restrictions. The remaining canyons were grouped into seven regions for further environmental and geological analysis. Once the analysis was complete, the Task Force ranked each region in order of suitability based on the following priorities of the Task Force and the communities and interests they represent:

• Distance to sensitive receptors (residential homes, schools, hospitals and row crops)
• Cost of the landfill – life cycle economics
• Greater than 35 years disposal capacity
• Transportation routes
• Land availability
• Visibility from Highway 101

Task Force Recommendation
During the 12 months of meetings, the Task Force maintained an exhaustive search of the entire SVSWA service district, which included all previous siting studies from 1997 to 2000. At their December 2003 meeting, the Task Force recommended that the first five canyons in Region 1: Highway 198 (A, A1, B, C, D) undergo further environmental, engineering and economic investigation for siting of a future regional landfill.

Landfill Region Siting Study and Recommnendations - Final Report January 2004Review Maps and aeriel photos of the search area