Shakopee landfill plans to expand by 180 acres

Scott County's only landfill, which takes demolition and industrial waste, plans to expand by about 180 acres, more than doubling its footprint in the southwest metro.

The Dem-Con Landfill, which is in Louisville Township but has a Shakopee address, has received the permit for expansion from Scott County and is in the final stages of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) permitting process.

"At the end of the day, we all create waste," said Bill Keegan, president of Dem-Con. "Until we don't create any waste, we are going to need landfills."

Dem-Con already operates an 120-acre landfill that takes waste from a 50-mile radius, and it has facilities on-site that recycle shingles, wood, metal, the contents of curbside recycling bins and construction and demolition waste.

The expansion will add 40 to 80 years to the landfill's life, depending on how much waste is recycled in the coming years, said Greg Wagner, the county's principal planner.

The MPCA will open a 30-day public comment period on the project this spring, said Abdi Hassan, an MPCA solid waste permitting engineer.

The landfill, which takes items such as shingles, cabinets, metal, countertops, rocks and tree stumps, is running low on space, Hassan said.

"The good thing about this site is it's lined just like [a municipal solid waste landfill]" and has a system for collecting wastewater, Hassan said, "so it's pretty safe."

Weighing the impact

Dem-Con applied for the permit along with Bryan Rock Products, which operates the quarry south of the existing landfill, where the expansion would occur as mining is finished.

They asked for a 241-acre expansion, with plans to use about 60 acres around the enlarged landfill as a buffer or for storm water management or other industrial purposes.

Dem-Con voluntarily had the MPCA complete an environmental assessment worksheet for the expansion, Keegan said, "so if there's any questions that come up, we're covered." The plans received a "negative declaration" of environmental impact and an air quality study showed additional permits aren't required, he said.

Keegan said Dem-Con is a "state-of-the-art, modern landfill" with a liner with layers of four different materials. There's also a system for collecting wastewater, known as leachate, and wells that monitor groundwater.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) initially wrote a letter to the MPCA expressing concern about the expansion and asking whether the agency had contacted the state archaeologist or the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council about cultural resources in the area, since the tribe recently found items nearby.

Keegan said he consulted the State Historic Preservation Office, and there were no known cultural or historic elements in the area. Bryan Rock has protocol in place if something is found.

The tribe's concerns have been addressed, said Jen Hellman, CEO and president of Goff Public, which represents the SMSC.

Wagner said the county sent postcards about the expansion to about 70 nearby residents and didn't receive any comments in return this spring.

"We have an operator that has been doing this for decades, and there's not been any issues," Wagner said. "I think that people who live out there are pretty used to it."

Local concerns addressed

Scott County officials initially had questions about about truck traffic and the aesthetics of the landfill when considering the permit amendment, Wagner said.

But the companies addressed the county's concerns, he said, noting traffic is not expected to increase. The landfill will have some "pretty significant screening" along Hwy. 169, Wagner said, with trees planted this year or next.

The county also requested copies of quarterly groundwater reports submitted to the MPCA.

The Louisville Township Board of Supervisors has already recommended that the project move forward.

John Weckman, one of the supervisors, said the board is "probably not big on" the expansion, but the landfill hasn't garnered any complaints in nearly a decade.

The township received about $107,000 in host fees from Dem-Con last year, he said, and some of that money can be used for running the township.

"It keeps property taxes as low as any township around," he said.