City continues to weigh all options for Grotto station

PAWTUCKET — The city’s Public Works Director has outlined a litany of options for the future of the Grotto Avenue transfer station, which range from continuing operations, constructing a “waste-to-energy” facility, and altogether closing the station and direct hauling waste to the landfill in Johnston.

waste to energy financing

 In a 54-page memorandum from Public Works Director Eric J. Earls to the City Council, since the last update on the transfer station in June, the Department of Public Works has explored “a number of different alternatives” including continuing operations as a transfer station on Grotto Avenue, construction of a “waste-to-energy” facility at the Grotto Avenue site, and closing the station and direct hauling to the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation landfill in Johnston.

Repairing the existing Grotto Avenue facility would cost between $1.3 million and $2.5 million, according to a 2018 report authored by Fuss & O’Neill, which outlined a 25-year expansion of operations at the current site in Fairlawn. While the city has repaved the road accessing the station, there are still a number of required repairs at the site, including replacing the building’s siding and roof, stabilizing retaining walls, replacing the transfer station floor, and installing a leachate collection system.

 waste to energy generating

Building a new facility at the current Grotto Avenue property is also on the table, per Earls’ memo. At the new facility, procedures would continue to consist of waste being delivered to Grotto Avenue and consolidated before being hauled to the landfill in Johnston.

Several options are outlined in Earls’ memo regarding building a new facility on Grotto Avenue.

Building a new facility at the current Grotto Avenue property is also on the table, per (DPW Director Eric J.) Earls’ memo. At the new facility, procedures would continue to consist of waste being delivered to Grotto Avenue and consolidated before being hauled to the landfill in Johnston.

Waste Connections, Inc., the current operator of the transfer station, would construct a 125-foot-by-100-foot building on the northern edge of the property, which would be operated and maintained by WCI and eventually owned by the city upon completion of the term.

Within this option, there are two alternatives – one which would cover the cost of a new building through an increase in city tipping fees with a 10-year lease with options to extend; and another with no costs to the city for construction and site improvements, as the city and WCI would agree that WCI would process and transport solid waste if WCI can operate the facility at the full 650 tons per day and if the city and WCI agree to a 10-year contract with a five-year extension that cannot be “unreasonably withheld,” meaning the city would agree to extend the contract for an additional five years if there is no “negligence or gross performance concerns.”

The other four options outlined in Earls’ memo are as follows:

• The city has had multiple discussions with the operator of the Johnston landfill about Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation operating the transfer station, a proposal that would limit commercial waste but increase municipal waste. Ultimately, though, the project was deemed “not economically viable” after RIRRC started reviewing associated costs.

• Officials reached out to Mega Disposal, the city’s current waste hauler, about the possibility of using the site as a regional municipal transfer station, a proposal that would limit commercial waste but increase municipal waste. However, during these discussions, Mega was purchased by WCI.

• Representatives from Tunnel Hill Partners of Stamford, Conn., the largest waste-by-rail company in the country, were invited to the city to review current waste operations. Tunnel Hill is still reviewing the economic viability of operating the transfer station and preliminary discussions with Tunnel Hill indicate that they would be interested in a package similar to those discussed with WCI.

• Waste Management, which operates as a waste hauler in Cranston and runs the Newport transfer station, was contacted by the city. However, there’s been no indication of interest from Waste Management.

waste to energy facts

City officials have also had discussions with two companies – Airgid Global and Gold Seal Industries – about a “waste-to-energy” approach, wherein refuse is converted to energy with only a small amount of residual solid waste left over. This technology has not been approved by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, though the city has had preliminary discussions with RIDEM and they are “amenable” to reviewing the data and having further discussions.

Airgid and Gold Seal’s proposals would use the city’s municipal waste stream and a fuel source to operate their system, as municipal waste would essentially be recycled to generate gaseous material that could be used to fuel other operations.

As for closing the station and direct hauling to Johnston, Earls wrote that there would be a number of increases in operational costs in order to achieve this, including replacing DPW vehicles to sustain regular mileage to the landfill, a significant increase in fuel costs due to multiple daily trips, additional maintenance requirements for vehicles such as oil changes and tire replacements, and DPW crews would be spending approximately one to two hours per trip to and from Johnston.

DPW estimates that these additional operational demands would cost roughly $1.6 million, Earls wrote.

Additionally, MTG – the city’s curbside collector – has estimated that the cost to direct haul waste to Johnston would be an additional $1.3 million per year. Combined, the costs of increased DPW operations and additional curbside costs total $2.9 million, which Earls wrote would more than double the city’s current costs for waste removal and recycling.

Also, Earls suggested that if the transfer station were no longer available in Pawtucket, illegal dumping would “easily double,” as DPW currently receives between 10 and 20 calls per week from residents reporting illegally-dumped items.

“The ability to dispose of materials at the Pawtucket Transfer Station reduces costs for our residents, who would otherwise have to dispose of their trash items at the Central Landfill in Johnston, which also has higher disposal fees than our transfer station,” Earls wrote.