Memo/Henn Co Bureau of public Storage•
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METROPOLITAN COUNCIL
Mears Park Centre, 230 East Fifth Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101
DATE: July 19, 1989
TO: Environmental Resources Committee
FROM: Solid Waste Division (Wayne Nelson, 291- 6406)
SUBJECT: Hennepin County Bureau of Public Service Storage Facility
City of Hopkins
Metropolitan Council Referral File No. 14894 -1
Metropolitan Council District 13
INTRODUCTION
Hennepin County is seeking a temporary ash storage permit from the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to use a large county storage building
in Hopkins to temporarily store ash from its solid waste incinerator. The
storage capacity is urgently needed because the temporary storage facility
expected to be permitted later this month at the Woodlake Landfill in
Medina is not expected to be operational until about November of this year
The incinerator is scheduled to begin operation next month. The temporary
storage would occur in the "salt storage building" at the Bureau of Public
Service facility in Hopkins. The facility is currently used for storing
road maintenance materials including gravel, salt and aggregates. MPCA
staff anticipate issuing a Type I ash storage permit effective through
December 15, 1989.
AUTHORITY TO REVIEW
The Metropolitan Council is required by Minn. Stat. 473.823, subd. 3, to
issue a permit determination within 60 days of its receipt of a facility
permit from the MPCA unless a review extension is granted. The 60 -day
period for this review lapses on September 10, -1985. Council approval must
be based on consistency with the Solid Waste Management chapter of the
Metropolitan Development Guide. Approval may be subject to conditions
necessary to satisfy criteria and standards in the policy plan.
Disapproval is required if the Council determines that a permit is not in
accordance with its policy plan.
SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS REFERRALS AND EXPECTATION FOR RELATED SUBMISSIONS
o Waste Flow Designation Plan (1985)
o Solid Waste Management Master Plan (1987)
o EAW for a temporary and possibly permanent (Type II) ash storage
facility at Woodlake (MPCA is preparing as RGU)
o Temporary ash storage (Type I) permit application (May 1989) --
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NOTIFICATION AND RESPONSE
The following entities were notified that the Council has received this
permit application for review.
o Hennepin County
o Hopkins
o Hennepin County Soil & Water Conservation District.
o Metropolitan Waste Control Commission
o Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources
o Minnesota Environmental Quality Board
o Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture
o Minnesota Dept. of Health Div. of Environmental Health
This report was prepared within a week of the above notifications and no
responses were submitted during this period.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Hennepin Energy Resource Company (HERC) Resource Recovery Facility
located in downtown Minneapolis is scheduled to begin operations about
August 15, 1989. Production is expected to increase each month until
normal operating capacity is reached in December 1989. Incoming solid
waste during this period is projected at 73,500 tons resulting in 19,845
tons of ash materials.
Temporary storage will be- needed until about the beginning of November
when a storage cell is completed at the Woodlake Landfill. The temporary
storage is proposed within a salt storage shed with a capacity of 20,500
tons. The shed is located approximately in the center of the 40 -acre
county public service operations and maintenance facility southwest of US
Highway 169 and 3rd Street S. in Hopkins The street address is 320
Washington Ave. S. (See Figure).
The ash produced at the HERC incinerator will include scrubber residue
(primarily lime) , will be quenched with water, and will be conditioned to
remove free liquid and minimize fugutive dust before delivery to the
Hopkins facility. Delivery trucks would be weighed at the scale outside
the storage building. Maximum delivery volume is projected at 260 tons per
day. Deliveries are anticipated in triple -axel end -dump trailers fitted
with roll back top covers with a capacity of 20 to 25 tons. When HERC
operations achieve designed production capacity, 15 - 20 delivery vehicles
are anticipated daily. The facility will serve HERC delivery vehicles
exclusively. The routing from downtown Minneapolis will be on MN Highway
55 to south US 169 to west Hennepin County 3 to south 5th Ave. to east 3rd
St. S. to the facility.
Unloading and storage would occur within the shed which is a steel, plywood
and earthen structure that is open on the south side. The shed is -above
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or u
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W TC
3rd Street
Street South
EXISTING
BUILDINGS
South
200
Feet
SITE PLAN OF DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
MAIN EQUIPMENT AND STORAGE YARD, HOPKINS
Existing Site
Access
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grade with a bituminous floor surface (4" minimum) . Berms on three sides
rise to the roof supports and provide additional protection against storm
water run -on into the facility. The structure has no floor drains and the
floor slopes toward the southwest corner. A berm and collection device
would be installed on the south side of the facility if indoor runoff did
occur. The shed and scale are within a 20 -acre section of the site that is
fenced and guarded when the access through the scale area is closed.
PROJECT REVIEW
The following Solid Waste Management Policy Plan /Development Guide
criteria are applicable to the proposed Type I facility review: capacity,
location, environmental impacts and operations.
CAPACITY
These criteria are intended to assure that facility sizing will not
interfere with any of the priorities in the land disposal development
schedule. Development of this interim facility is consistent with the
land disposal development schedule. The interim facility will not affect
land disposal volumes because the material will be land disposed
regardless of whether the interim facility is deployed. The development
schedule assumes existing landfill capacity will be available for the
disposal of residuals until new disposal facilities are developed. The
Guide projects from 1985 through 1990 that 40 percent by weight of all
waste handled by reduction /recovery technologies will be returned as
residuals still requiring landfilling.
LOCATION
These criteria are intended to assure that location is consistent with
Council land use policies, compatible with metropolitan systems, and
compatible with surrounding land uses. The site in Hopkins is within the
Metropolitan urban service area and is zoned general industrial.
Transportation to and from the facility, will occur on 9 -ton or better road
surfaces in vehicles with maximum axle weights of eight and a half tons.
Local and collector streets do provide access to the site from County Rd.
3, but these streets traverse a commercial /industrial area. No other
metropolitan systems will be affected. The facility is buffered by
existing county operations and storage activities that completely surround
it Residential and commercial land uses predominate outside the county
property.
The MPCA, in cooperation with the city of Hopkins and Hennepin County, has
scheduled a public informational meeting on August 7, 1989, at 7 00 p.m. in
the Hopkins City Hall to address local concerns about the operation. ` The
city will conduct a zoning review process that will allow it to influence
such factors as hours of operation, monitoring and corrective actions that
may be necessary to address operational problems. The facility will
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revert to use for road maintenance storage operations after the ash is
loaded back into trailers with front end loaders and removed to the
Woodlake Landfill storage facility following its completion.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
These criteria are intended to assure that such facilities are located,
designed and operated to prevent air pollution or the discharge of
leachate under or beyond site boundaries. Air pollution is very unlikely
because the damp ash will be transported and unloaded in covered vehicles
and storage areas. Run -on and run -off should be properly controled by the
enclosed structure and earthen berms. Regular inspection and management
in response to pooling of moisture or fugitive dust should assure that the
ash is maintained in a condition that is dry enough not to form leachate
and damp enough not to create dust. Litter will not be a consideration
because the incineration process destroys it.
OPERATIONS
These criteria are intended to assure that permit applicants are
responsible, the facilities will be controlled both to prevent
unauthorized entry and provide for wastes left illegally, and backup
service is available in the event of an emergency.
Hennepin County has demonstrated a commitment to solid waste management.
It has planned and developed waste management facilities consistent with
county, regional and state planning requirements. It successfully
operates yard waste and household hazardous waste management programs and
oversees hauler licensing and hazardous waste regulation at the county
level. The facility will be controlled by fencing and access only through
the scale operation. Illegal dumping outside the facility will not be a
problem because disposal of all the ash residue is covered under contract.
The county presently has no backup for this backup arrangement other than
to close the HERC facility. The county is negotiating alternative backup
arrangements, however, with other parties.
No assurance is provided that the stored ash will be promptly removed. The
county has an incentive to remove the material to provide space for salt
storage during the winter months and MPCA enforcement authority could be
relied upon when the permit expires at the end of the year. From a good
business management perspective, however, the cost of this activity should
be predicted in advance and assessed at the time the cost is incurred.
Consequently, a condition should be established requiring that the cost of
removal and delivery of the ash to a more permanent disposal location be
estimated on a tonnage basis and corresponding amounts be escrowed as the
storage activity progresses.
IP LUSIONS
1. The proposed Type I facility is consistent with the Solid Waste
Management Policy Plan1Development Guide.
2. The facility is consistent with the land disposal development schedule
and will not increase the demand for land disposal capacity.
3. The facility is compatible with metropolitan systems.
4. The facility is intended for interim use only during 1989.
5. The facility should have no adverse environmental impacts. f
6. The permit should be conditioned to require that the cost
be o f rm oval
on and
of the ash to a more permanent disposal location
tonnage basis and corresponding amounts be escrowed for this purpose as
the storage activity progresses.
RECOMMENDATION
at the Metropolitan Council approve, subject to the following condition,
Ili uance of a Type I incinerator ash storage facility permit to Hennepin
for temporary storage of MSW incinerator ash at the Hennepin County
Bureau of Public Service Storage Facility anent disposal posal location must bemoval
and delivery of the ash to a more perm
estimated on a tonnage basis and corresponding funds must be escrowed for
this purpose as the storage activity progresses.
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