Import of out-of-state waste rises sharply for Virginia
By SCOTT HARPER, The Virginian-Pilot
© June 16, 2005
Last updated: 10:57 PM
Virginia imported 7.8 million tons of trash last year , the largest amount of out-of-state waste ever accepted by state landfills and incinerators, and 18 percent more than in 2003, according to a report released Wednesday.
The annual solid waste report, compiled by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, found that permitted waste facilities located mostly in the eastern half of the state took trash from 28 other states and Canada last year.
Most of that material was household garbage from Maryland, New York and Washington, D.C. But shipments also arrived from California, Alabama, Texas and North Carolina, among others.
Environmental groups seized upon the report to argue for passage of legislation now stalled in Congress that would allow states to control trash imports. Such shipments today are considered "interstate commerce" and thus protected by the Constitution.
With more garbage expected to come from New York City by barge down the James River, and with a similar way station envisioned in Portsmouth, activists lamented that Virginia soon may become the No. 1 trash importer in the nation – a mantle they said would be embarrassing, harmful to tourism and potentially dangerous to the environment.
Currently, Pennsylvania accepts the most out-of-state trash in the country, but its landfills are nearing capacity, environmentalists said. Virginia is a close second.
"Obviously, we have a concern that the import numbers keep going up," said Jim Sharp , executive director of Campaign Virginia, an advocacy group in Richmond pressing for greater state controls of waste shipments. "It’s not surprising, really, but it certainly points to a growing problem that should be addressed."
Gov. Mark R. Warner’s administration favors the federal waste legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis , a Newport News Republican. But her bill, and others like it in the past, have not yet found a favorable audience in Congress.
Bill Hayden , a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Quality, said his department has two chief concerns – that Virginia be able to manage imports as safely as possible, and that enough space is available to handle Virginia’s own crush of garbage, which too is increasing.
The report found that the average landfill across the state has about 16 more years of life before filling up. Separate landfills that handle construction debris have an average capacity of seven more years, according to the report.
In South Hampton Roads, the regional waste authority has for several years accepted "out-of-area wastes," as it calls them. Last year, though, the Southeastern Public Service Authority took about 21 percent less non local trash.
SPSA burns much of that garbage at its incinerator in Portsmouth, converting the wastes into electricity and steam, which then are sold to Dominion Virginia Power and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
Other highlights in the waste report include:
– 27 million tons of solid waste were received at Virginia’s 204 permitted facilities, 19.2 million coming from Virginia and 7.8 million from out-of-state;
– 94 percent of all imported trash originated in four states and the District of Columbia. The states are Maryland, New York, New Jersey and North Carolina.
– 81 percent of all wastes handled in the state were buried in landfills, 9.3 percent were incinerated and the rest were handled "in other ways."
– While the overall amount of out-of-state wastes increased by 18 percent last year when compared with 2003 , the volume of construction debris imported to Virginia skyrocketed by 180 percent . And most of that was at one facility, in Goochland County .
– The statewide recycling rate in 2003 was 30 percent. A separate report on that rate last year is forthcoming.
Reach Scott Harper at (757) 446-2340 or scott.harper@pilotonline.com .
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