Efficiency ideas being considered for RRA plant

Recently there’s much ado made about the Resource Recovery Agency (RRA) in the County Legislature, and considering the cost to the county taxpayer, rightfully so.

In mid-February the full Legislature met as a committee of the whole with the leadership of the RRA to more fully understand their operations, the challenges they face, and fact-find so as to eventually create a cohesive solid waste management plan to guide future county waste disposal.

Dutchess County residents and businesses produce approximately 230 to 250 tons of garbage a year. Of this the RRA’s Poughkeepsie-based burn plant is capable of burning 164,000 tons via two boiler trains by which steam energy is produced and sold to Central Hudson (formerly also IBM). Built in 1984, the waste-to-energy plant was able to sustain itself without government subsidy until 1994. Since then, the RRA has slowly and consistently been losing money with the projected 2010 county subsidy at $6.3 million.

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The County Legislature is now actively engaged in finding ways to help the RRA increase its profits and reduce its reliance on the county. There are no simple solutions. Among those being considered:

• Upgrading the turbine would increase the energy output by 25 to 30 percent but would require a $4 million investment.

• Finding an alternative use of the ash produced from the burning of trash. Currently it costs $3 million a year in transportation costs as the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) disallows the ash to be used in construction projects.

• Re-enacting flow control to require haulers to bring county trash to the RRA plant rather than force the RRA to compete on an open market.

• Creating enforcement mechanisms so that haulers adhere to current county law and process recyclables at the county’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF). The RRA loses an estimated $1 million a year when haulers take recyclables to other markets for their own enrichment. Where the MRF used to process an excess of 20,000 tons in recyclables we currently only process 10,000 tons.

• Request the DEC relax limits on the burn plant as current regulations impede efficiency.

• Attempt to restructure RRA bonds (one expires in 2014, the other in 2027) to lessen current payments while also doing away with a provision that causes bond interest to automatically grow annually by 3 percent.

Already there are signs of optimism as these and other changes are considered. In February the RRA entered into a scrap metals contract that is expected to result in an additional annual $1.2 million. This was one of the 30 recommendations brought forward by the State Authority Budget Office in their recent audit.

The county also satisfied the spring payment to the RRA out of budgeted funds from the 2009 county budget so there is no immediate threat to the county’s bond rating for an inability to pay the June payment as previously thought.

There remains much ahead for the RRA in terms of policy and decision-making, but amid the ashes of the recent controversy are a few embers burning bright.

 Michael Kelsey represents the towns of Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the village of Millbrook in the Dutchess County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.