Superior landfill to close to public
Oct. 17—SUPERIOR — City residents will have a last chance to use the landfill on Moccasin Mike Road for free before the landfill closes to the public at the end of October.
Starting Nov. 1, the only traffic that will be allowed to the landfill's final cell are licensed commercial haulers.
While the change isn't expected to affect regular garbage service in Superior, and some materials will still be collected from the public there, cleaning out the garage or basement will require alternative solutions if materials won't fit in the trash can.
"We're running out of ways to make it safe," said Darienne McNamara, landfill manager. "We have tried to stretch this as long as we possibly can."
So the city is planning its final free landfill days from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 19 and 26. Materials that will be accepted at no cost include household trash, brush, grass clippings and leaves; up to four tires 18 inches or less per household; and electronic waste. Mattresses and box springs can also be recycled for $25-$30.
The landfill will remain open to city garbage trucks,
Western Lake Superior Sanitary District
(WLSSD) and other commercial haulers with self-unloading trucks until it closes, expected by the end of 2026.
"We're building a pyramid essentially, so as you go higher and higher in the pyramid, the area gets smaller and smaller," McNamara said. "We're pretty close to the top of the pyramid and we're really running out of space to have two separate dumping areas, which is always what we have done."
McNamara said there simply isn't room anymore to accommodate separate dumping areas for commercial haulers and the public. That separation is needed to keep the public safe, McNamara said.
"We have to get rid of one, and we're contractually obligated to keep taking commercial trucks," McNamara said. "That's what keeps the doors open financially."
Nearly 90% of the landfill's budget is paid for by WLSSD, commercial hauling and city garbage services.
There are alternatives the public can use, such as Core Advantage on Garfield Avenue in Superior, McNamara said. She said the company will still be able to drop off waste at the landfill. She said other options include WLSSD's materials recovery center or other area waste haulers.
"There is still another place for people to go with their stuff," McNamara said. "I don't know about the rates they charge."
Core Advantage provides roll-off waste containers for pickup, and is a community waste and recycling center, according to its
website.
The city will still collect some recycled materials at the landfill that don't require the public to go to the waste pile, including electronic waste, tires, mattresses, leaves and brush.
The city is in the process of finishing a road that will allow haulers to finish filling the landfill, but it will require taking out the road that allows the public to drop off waste, said Public Works Director Todd Janigo.
The Superior City Council approved an agreement Tuesday, Oct. 15, with NewGen Strategies and Solutions of Austin, Texas, to begin planning for the eventuality that the city's waste will have to go elsewhere. The city worked with the company in 2014 as it explored the privatization of trash collection and a potential sale of the city-owned landfill.
