Waste disposal the reason growth not healthful in Northwest Arkansas

 Until waste-disposal problems are solved, Northwest Arkansas will NOT be suitable for further growth.
Local officials long ago learned that solid waste of any kind could not safely be stored underground in the area. Disposal of biosolid waste is incredibly important. Using it to increase soil fertility is a logical way to recycle and reuse it. But methodology remains a question.
The best suggestion for discussion at the economic-development summit Tuesday night at the Town Center was about recruiting people with Internet-based businesses that can be operated from their homes. But none of the ideas for growth can ever really be successful in this area until reduction of the amount of all kinds of waste material is managed well.
The consultant's disappoval of adding more industries that manufacture products, however, is short-sighted. If things are going to be used here, creating them here is the least expensive way to do it. And that applies to agricultural products as well.
Protecting our soil and water and air will forever be the basic key to survival everywhere on earth.

City turns to consultants for biosolid disposal alternatives
BY DUSTIN TRACY Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Wednesday, October 15, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/70106

Fayetteville has hired Camp, Dresser and McKee consultants to come up with a long-term alternative solution for the disposal of the city’s biosolids.
At Tuesday’s committee meeting Dave Jurgens, Fayetteville’s water and wastewater director, said the $ 19, 900 paid to the firm came out of extra money left in the Water and Sewer Improvement Project.
On Aug. 26 Ju rgens received a call from American Environmental Corp. ’s landfill near Sand Springs, Okla. The operator used to be in charge of disposing of the city’s biosolids. Jurgens said he was told the landfill would no longer be taking biosolids from any of its five contracted cities.
As a result the city started sending its biosolids to a Waste Management landfill near Russellville at the price of $ 38 per wet ton. The city was only paying $ 10 per wet ton at the American Environmental landfill. The hope was that the Oklahoma landfill would eventually reopen after an investigation by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
Jurgens said that he was told Tuesday that the American Environmental landfill would not be reopening anytime soon, even though the city still managed to send about two truckloads a day to the facility for the past two months.
“ It sounds unlikely that we will be able to use the Sand Springs landfill, ” Jurgens said.
So the city is back where it started in August. Jurgens said he’s hoping the consultants will come up with a viable alternative for the city to dispose of the biosolids. One of the ideas already explored by the city was the concept of drying out the waste and processing it so it could be used as fertilizer.
Jurgens said the consultants would have a list of alternatives to present to the city by December.
The committee also decided to table a decision on how the city should cost share with the SouthPass development in terms of water and sewer infrastructure. Aldermen Kyle Cook and Lioneld Jordan said they didn’t feel comfortable approving an agreement on an issue that hasn’t passed the full City Council.
The council will once again look at the SouthPass planned zoning development at its Tuesday meeting.
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