Glenn Coin | gcoin@syracuse.com By
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on August 14, 2013 at 2:38 PM, updated August 14, 2013 at 4:28 PM
on August 14, 2013 at 2:38 PM, updated August 14, 2013 at 4:28 PM
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Onondaga and Cortland counties hope to cut a deal this year to burn Cortland garbage in Jamesville in exchange for dumping incinerator ash in Cortland County's landfill.
Officials from both counties and the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency said today a deal will boost Cortland County's money-losing landfill and also generate $500,000 more in electricity sales at the OCRRA incinerator in Jamesville.
The deal would also strengthen OCRRA's hand in its negotiations with Covanta Energy, which runs the incinerator and has the option of buying it in 2015. Covanta would have to take on $40 million in bond debt that would have to be repaid through incinerator revenues.
"We're going to start negotiating with Cortland County in a way that is going to satisfy a lot of competing interests," Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney said at a news conference.
The agreement would require approval of both county legislatures. Onondaga County in 1992 banned trash from other counties, but could make an exception for Cortland County, officials said. Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon said there would be public hearings before any vote.
Details of the arrangement are still being negotiated, but officials today outlined a general idea of how it would work:
-- OCRRA would truck all the ash from the Rock Cut Road incinerator -- about 86,000 tons a year -- to Cortland County's landfill.
-- Trucks that brought that ash would then haul to the incinerator 23,000 tons of Cortland County's trash.
-- OCRRA would pay Cortland county about $1 million a year to take the ash, which would more than make up the $400,000 annual loss at the Cortland landfill.
-- OCRRA would save money by shipping the ash 40 miles to Cortland County instead of 80 miles to High Acres landfill near Rochester, where the ash goes now.
Increasing recycling rates and a drop in trash due to the economic recession have caused the incinerator to run at less than its capacity, officials said. The incinerator burns about 320,000 tons of trash a year, said OCRRA Executive Director Mark Donnelly, but could burn 361,000 tons.
Falling electricity rates have also cut into the plant's revenues: OCRRA took in $7.4 million in 2011 from electrical sales, but just $6.1 million last year. OCRRA has budgeted $6.5 million for this year.
The incinerator lost nearly $6 million from 2009 to 2011, the most recent data on the agency's web site.
A deal with Cortland County would put OCRRA in a better position when negotiating with
Covanta, Mahoney said.
Covanta, Mahoney said.
"It solves a problem for OCRRA and therefore for Onondaga County in how do you fill that capacity when entering negotiations," she said. "We want to enter negotiations with a maximized facility."
The Onondaga County Legislature in 1992 adopted a law banning trash from outside the county. Mahoney said people were fearful then about imported trash, but they shouldn't fear garbage coming from next-door Cortland County.
"Onondaga County and Cortland County trash are the same thing," Mahoney said. "It's not wise to let fear stand in the way of maximizing a world-class facility."
