$2.6M committed to dispose of increased trash from city, county at Sandpoint Landfill
Anticipating increased trash collections, Eddy County Tuesday accepted a bid of $2.6 million from a Texas construction firm to build a new garbage collection system at the Sandpoint Landfill east of Carlsbad.
Eddy County received eight bids from interested contractors, wrote Procurement Director Dorie Fannin in a memorandum to the Eddy County Board of County Commissioners.
WSP USA Environment and Infrastructure recommended the Midland-based firm as it was the lowest bid submitted, according to County Commission documents.
New Mexico state law requires the lowest bid for a construction project be approved by a county or municipality in the state.
Extra trash space needed at landfill
Sept. 5 Eddy County's Board of County Commissioners approved a $4 million budget transfer within the Public Works Department to start construction on Cell 6 and find a contractor as Cell 5 was filling up ahead of schedule, said Eddy County Public Works Director Jason Burns.
Data from the City of Carlsbad Utilities Department indicated 51,000 tons of trash was hauled from residences and businesses in the City of Carlsbad at the end of 2022 to the Sandpoint Landfill.
More: More people means more trash. What Eddy County is doing to make room at Sandpoint Landfill
Through September of this year nearly 41,000 tons of trash was collected from the City of Carlsbad and transported to the landfill, according to Utilities Department data.
Trash collection data for October was not released as of Nov. 22. Data for November and December would not be released until late 2023 or early 2024.
“Cell space is undoubtedly filling up at a speedy rate,” said former Keep Carlsbad Beautiful Executive Director and Carlsbad Ward 3 City Councilor-elect Mary Garwood.
“As our area continues to grow in population and industry, Sandpoint must expand to accommodate this need, even if it is ahead of schedule."
Carlsbad’s population increased from 26,138 residents in 2010 to 32,238 people in 2020, according to the U.S. Census.
Temporary housing facilities in Carlsbad were either sold out or close to selling out during October, according to reports from the Carlsbad Department of Development (CDOD).
Carlsbad and Eddy County continue to see growth in the oil and gas industry as of last month, as unemployment in Eddy County in September 2023 was 2.4%, per the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.
The amount of trash hauled from Eddy County and the City of Artesia appeared to increase from 2022 as 23,000 tons were collected from Eddy County and 22,000 tons were collected from Artesia.
Through September of this year, Eddy County had 31,000 tons of trash collected and sent to the Sandpoint Landfill and 19,000 tons were hauled in from Artesia, per City of Carlsbad Utilities data.
More: Eddy County purchases $725K landfill compactor as trash collections increase in 2022
Burns said the landfill is a joint operation between Eddy County and the City of Carlsbad.
Garwood said the City of Carlsbad would pay nearly $2 million for the 6th cell to be built at the landfill.
Garwood pushing a return to recycling in 2024?
As the former director of Keep Carlsbad Beautiful Garwood was an advocate for trash recycling in Carlsbad.
She said a nearly 20 year recycling agreement between the City of Carlsbad, CARC and Rainbow Recycling ended in 2016.
During the 2023 City Council campaign, she championed an effort to return recycling to Carlsbad once the new Council term starts in 2024.
The City could look at composting green waste and providing a simple cardboard, aluminum, and paper drop-off recycling center to help offset Sandpoint filling up so quickly, according to Garwood.
“The recycling market crisis that happened back in 2016 is long over, and as a result, it's an even more real option to now send baled materials to domestic markets and not have to ship them overseas,” she said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said recycling was critical to the national economy and the environment as a whole.
A 2020 report noted 526 million metric tons of recycled goods were produced in the U.S. as 681,000 jobs were produced along with $37.8 billion in wages and $5.5 billion in tax revenue generated.
More: Revised bill banning single-use plastic bags in New Mexico stalled in Legislature
“Our analysis found a considerable portion of the economic impacts for most recycling sectors occur indirectly rather than as a direct result of the recycling activity,” cited the EPA report.
“Specifically, indirect impacts contributed 45%, 43% and 41% of employment, wage and tax contributions, respectively. This is because purchases made as part of the supply chain of recycling are substantial contributors to economic impacts,” read the report.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Eddy County approves 2.6M addition to Sandpoint Landfill
