In other business Tuesday morning, the Barton County Commission:
• Appointed Randy Anderson, Marquita Boehnke, Billie Bohomo, Darrin Hall, Kenneth Lebbin, Dale Masden, Mary Anne Stoskopf, Jonathan Mitchell, Kenny Schremmer and Alicia Straub to the Cow Creek Watershed working group to assist in the creation of the new Risk Mapping, Assessment and Planning (Risk MAP).
“These are people who are interested in the project,” County Administrator Richard Boeckman said. There have been a number of applications.
Basically, the group will help determine what the watershed will look like, Boeckman said.
Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Risk MAP focuses on reducing flood risk by increasing public awareness and developing new or updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps. The Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources, in cooperation with FEMA, is engaging in a new Risk MAP project in the Cow Creek watershed involving about 60 percent of Barton County.
The group that will be staying informed about the project. This may include determining the method and level of map review the community will engage in (how and to what extent the community will be involved), providing comments and feedback and ensuring that stakeholders are aware of review opportunities and public meetings.
“I think we have a good representation of our constituents,” Commissioner Jennifer Schartz said. As the project goes on, more people can join the group.
“There is a good show of interest,” Straub said.
The group’s first meeting is at noon Monday, Feb. 22, at the Lyons City Hall.
In a move that will benefit both the facility and its customers, Solid Waste Director Phil Hathcock requested and obtained approval from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to accept waste liquids in the Barton County Landfill.
The permit will be good for county residents by offering another service and will also help extend the landfill’s life expectancy, Hathcock told the County Commission Tuesday morning.
Hathcock said up until now the landfill under KDHE regulations could not accept any waste that was liquid or had liquid flowing from it. However, now they have gained approval through a research and development rule to accept such wastes.
For example if a underground tank is excavated at a gas station and contamination is found, usually the soil has a lot of groundwater in it. Before the contractor would either have to take the soil elsewhere or dry it out.
“Now we can take it as it is,” he said. They can also take car wash and mechanic bay clean outs under this approval.
The advantage to this is that adding liquid/moisture to the trash in the landfill not only helps with compaction, but causes the waste to degrade faster, therefore giving the landfill more airspace.
Hathcock said the soils may be spread around as ground cover, but the liquids will be disposed of in a containment area. “It’s going to be on a case-by-case basis” what they do with the material.
He did stress that they won’t accept any hazardous waste. It will be the customers’ responsibility to test what they want to dump to prove it is acceptable.
Contaminated soil will be accepted under the current pricing schedule at the landfill. However, the commission approved new pricing for the liquid waste.
The cost will be $25 for a 55-gallon drum, and $100 for a $250-gallon tote with 25 cents charged per gallon over 250.
