Even as it is being re-evaluated, a proposal to build a solid-waste transfer station in Bluffdale is causing some to say the whole thing stinks.
The $6 million contract before Salt Lake County came close to being signed in December by the now-defunct Salt Lake County Commission, but was shelved in the face of legal objections raised by the District Attorney's Office.
Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman says the county is now "starting over from scratch," but the proposal raises troubling issues of conflicts of interest.
Dix McMullin is the project manager of East Carbon Development Corp. (ECDC), which wanted the contract with the county to build and operate the solid waste transfer station in Bluffdale. He also is the mayor of South Jordan.
ECDC also sought an exclusive disposal agreement that would have required all the waste processed at the Bluffdale site to go to the corporation's Carbon County landfill.
That troubles officials at the Trans-Jordan Landfill, which has seven "member" cities in Salt Lake County.
Among those member cities is South Jordan. In 1996, South Jordan agreed to pay $1.9 million as a "buy-in" fee for Trans-Jordan to handle its municipal waste. The contract is to remain in place for the next five years.
Skeptics of the project wonder why a businessman representing another landfill is courting the south valley garbage business, especially when he's the mayor of one of the member cities of a competing landfill.
"It absolutely makes me uncomfortable," said South Jordan Council member Skip Criner.
"This is a private individual. Dix McMullin is not acting on behalf of the city, but it makes it awkward because he is our mayor."
Criner and South Jordan Council member Russell Sanderson said McMullin has never talked directly to the City Council about the ECDC proposal, and city administrator Rick Horst knows little about the project.
McMullin said South Jordan officials know he has declared a conflict, and that should be enough at this stage in the process. "I have never tried to withhold disclosure that I work for the waste industry," he said. "I have recorded my conflict of interest every time it has been an issue."
But Trans-Jordan's general manager, Dwayne Woolley, has concerns that go beyond the appearance of conflict because of what McMullin's proposal might to do to his business.
"We represent 350,000 people in the south half of this valley in seven cities. No one in the county has contacted us about the need for a transfer station to this point," Woolley said.
That was true until this week, when media inquiries to Salt Lake County's solid waste division were followed the next working day by visits from two county employees to Woolley's office.
Up for discussion was the possibility of a future solid waste transfer station, a discussion Woolley said came more than a month after the initial contract was being waved in front of the Salt Lake County Commission.
"We're in the dark on this project," Woolley said.
Council meeting surprise
Although touted as a facility that would handle the municipal waste needs for the south portion of Salt Lake County, McMullin said the proposal is not intended to go after Trans-Jordan's city garbage business.
"We're not going after any of the waste from those member cities," McMullin said.
Sanderson learned about the project from a newspaper article, which he brought to one of South Jordan's City Council meetings, shaking it in the air at McMullin.
"I asked him, 'What is this? Are you acting on behalf of the city or as a private individual?' "
Sanderson said the December commission meeting was an upsetting surprise for other leaders in South Jordan.
"I guess everyone is disturbed about that last meeting of the commission because nobody knew about the proposal and all of a sudden it was on the table," he said.
At the meeting, the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office was pushed to grant approval of the contract after some revisions were made, but the attorneys refused to budge.
A memo from District Attorney Dave Yocom's office obtained by the Deseret News raised these concerns, among others:
No environmental assessment or site inspection have ever been done on the property.
The contracts would have locked the county in for 20 years with no provision to terminate.
The contracts would have required the county to use one company exclusively for the disposal of waste, a violation of county procurement ordinances and state purchasing law.
Some $6 million has been set aside in this year's budget for a solid waste transfer station, but no feasibility study determining if there is a need has been done.
Workman said just because previous county leaders set aside the money doesn't mean the project will go forward.
"We need to find out if there is a true need," she said. "We need numbers and we need information. I need to have some justification for this."
Perceived involvement
What Sanderson says troubles him the most is the perceived involvement of South Jordan because McMullin happens to be the city's mayor.
"What bothers me is that we would be involved in facilitating something especially since the rest of us know nothing about it at all. I'm on a fact-finding mission to learn more. I don't want to get into Dix's business, but if it involves the city and city business, I want the citizens and the council to know about it."
Sanderson and Criner say they're happy with Trans-Jordan and leery about a proposal for another solid waste transfer station, especially one being promoted to handle south valley needs.
Trans-Jordan has 20 years of landfill life left after undergoing multimillion-dollar improvements that brought it into EPA compliance.
Trans-Jordan takes in 615 tons a day from its member cities and 400 tons from commercial sources. Woolley says he is able to offer a discount rate of $11 a ton for member cities because of the amount of commercial waste he brings in. The standard rate is $22 per ton.
If ECDC cuts into Trans-Jordan's commercial accounts, Woolley wondered aloud, what would the effect be? "Who is going to subsidize the south valley?"
McMullin acknowledged the transfer station would be a destination for commercial haulers.
"They would be free to take their disposal to any site," he said, adding he believes there is enough growth in southern Salt Lake County to generate the need for another station.
"We're putting in place a facility that will serve the needs of this area for 50 years to come. We're getting this ready to handle waste for a long period of time."
Woolley says current disposal needs in Salt Lake County are adequate for a couple of decades, and any alternative waste site could cause an increase in residential rates.
"Garbage can go where it wants to go, but if it takes away from us the commercial waste, that hurts us as much as going after the member cities. It appears it will hurt us and the residents and benefit ECDC only."
Both Woolley and West Jordan's Donna Evans, mayor of another member city, fear the proposal will end up hurting Salt Lake County residents.
"I think it is hanging people with another cost they may not need to pay," Evans said.
Evans said her city has not been invited to the table for any discussions for a proposal she said she believes is unnecessary.
"A transfer station is not necessary for the county for another 15 years or more, at least from an observer's perspective," she said. "If the disposal alternative is moved out of Salt Lake County, everybody will pay more. I don't see how anyone is going to win under this scenario."
Evans found the rush for a transfer station without discussions with Salt Lake County cities a bit curious.
"From our perspective, whatever decisions are made in this area need to beneficial to all parties, not just one individual group. We don't see how that would be accomplished with an additional transfer station created in the county at this time."
E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com