Shedding Light on Solid Waste Issues

AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION • MARCH 2010 • www.apwa.net

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G34673_APWA-Reporter_Mar09.indd 1 2/4/09 10:43:15 AM March 2010

Vol. 77, No. 3

The APWA Reporter, the official magazine of the American Public Works Association, covers all facets of public works for APWA members including industry news, legislative actions, management issues and emerging technologies. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT INSIDE APWA 2 President’s Message 6 Technical Committee News 8 One man’s junk is another man’s treasure 12 Snow Conference Technical Tour to visit two facilities 14 The team behind the scenes opens its doors 16 L.A. women excel in solid resources 8 18 Rolling Meadows Public Works Citizens Academy

COLUMNS

4 Washington Insight 22 Back to the Basics 24 International Idea Exchange 60 Ask Ann

FEATURES 30 Solid waste management trends in 2010 15 36 Greenhouse gas impacts of solid waste management 38 Pay-As-You-Throw – Now: Increase recycling and decrease greenhouse gases quickly, fairly and cost-effectively 41 Recycling and recovery of waste: a worldwide issue 42 APWA on pharmaceuticals: It’s time for producer responsibility 44 Automated waste collection: how to make sure it makes sense for your community 49 Trends in solid waste: Florida considering 75% recycling target 52 Disposal solutions for compact fluorescent lamps and batteries 16 56 Rectifying the mistakes of a city’s past

MARKETPLACE 62 Products in the News 65 Professional Directory

CALENDAR 13 Education Calendar 68 World of Public Works Calendar 35 68 Index of Advertisers

March 2010 APWA Reporter 1 A plan for debris management

Larry T. Koehle, P.Eng., MPA APWA President

wo big stories have monopo- cal hazards can be sorted, and ma- Official Magazine of the lized the media over the last terials like steel and concrete/bricks American Public Works Association few months: the economy can find a second life as scrap metal PUBLISHER American Public Works Association and Haiti. The tragedy in and aggregate or clean fill, respec- 2345 Grand Blvd., Suite #700 Haiti is heartbreaking and will take tively. Other debris is more difficult Kansas City, MO 64108-2625 (800) 848-APWA (Member Services Hotline) years to fully recover. One of the big to manage and landfill disposal is (816) 472-6100 (Kansas City metro area) issues after the human and social ultimately required. FAX (816) 472-1610 e-mail: [email protected] factors related to disaster is that of Website: www.apwa.net debris management. Public works The reason for mentioning debris management with this issue of the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR professionals across the U.S. and Peter B. King APWA Reporter is that the situation Canada prepare for disasters and the EDITOR management of debris. Whether tor- in Haiti represents an extreme chal- R. Kevin Clark nados, ice storms, hurricanes, floods lenge for waste management. All GRAPHIC DESIGNER or earthquakes, there will be debris. too often we take for granted the Julie Smith The challenge is to recognize the role that waste management plays ADVERTISING SALES in our communities. When asked Amanda Daniel R. Kevin Clark types and quantities of debris and Erin Ladd Kansas City Liaison put the community’s plan in action what the general public knows Jennifer Wirz (800) 848-APWA (800) 800-0341 for debris management. about solid waste management, the typical response is, “Well, I put it at APWA WASHINGTON OFFICE 1275 K Street NW, Suite 750 Debris management is a subset of the curb and it goes away.” Where Washington, D.C. 20005-4083 solid waste management planning. does it go? “Away.” The infrastruc- (202) 408-9541 FAX (202) 408-9542 All communities have some form ture of solid waste is invisible to the Disclaimer: The American Public Works Association of solid waste management system public but essential to the health assumes no responsibility for statements and/or opinions advanced by either editorial or advertising that has developed over the years in and welfare of a community. There contributors to this issue. APWA reserves the right response to available collection and are many pressures on solid waste to refuse to publish and to edit manuscripts to conform to the APWA Reporter standards. disposal resources as well as com- management systems. Local poli- Publisher’s Notice: The APWA Reporter, March munity demands for services such tics, state and federal regulations, 2010, Vol. 77, No. 3 (ISSN 0092-4873; Publications as recycling, bulky waste (white and technology represent a few of Agreement No. 40040340). The APWA Reporter goods, etc.) and yard waste. Dur- these industry pressures. The arti- is published monthly by the American Public Works Association, 2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite ing a disaster, all these services are cles in this month’s issue will high- 700, Kansas City, MO 64108-2625. Subscription rolled up in one and take a life of light a few of these pressures. rate is $164 for nonmembers and $25 for chapter- sponsored students. Periodicals postage paid at their own. There have been great Kansas City, MO and additional mailing offices. strides during recent disaster events Solid waste collection is one of the POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the APWA to minimize disposal and find ben- few services that is common to al- Reporter, 2345 Grand Boulevard, #700, Kansas City, most every community. Someone MO 64108-2625. Canada returns to: Station A, P.O. eficial uses for debris. When most Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5. either picks your trash up curbside of the debris is yard waste from Reprints and Permissions: Information is available at downed trees and snapped branches or you self-haul to a local drop-off www.apwa.net/Publications/Reporter/guidelines.asp. generated from the disaster event, or transfer station. These operations © 2010 by American Public Works Association are pretty straightforward and have grinding and land application pro- Address Change? vide a positive use of this debris. not changed very substantially in To alert us of a change to your membership record, concept over the last decade or so. contact an APWA Membership Specialist at (800) 848-APWA or [email protected]. Structural debris once cleared of en- Underneath the surface of this op- The APWA Reporter is printed by Harmony Printing vironmental issues such as asbestos, eration, many changes have devel- & Development Co., Liberty, MO. lead-based paint and other chemi- oped. From GPS (global positioning

2 APWA Reporter March 2010 systems) tracking of collection trucks, cial rate structuring with an emphasis to recycling these products or properly RFID (radio frequency identification at waste reduction and resulting in- disposing them. Other markets that data) labeling of containers, automat- creases in recycling as well as the other have looked at this concept include ed and semi-automated equipment, two R’s, reduction and reuse. compact fluorescent bulbs. and changes in the trucks themselves, the landscape has evolved. Communi- Those other R’s of the standard Envi- APWA and the Solid Waste Manage- ties are looking at new fuels for their ronmental Protection Agency waste ment Technical Committee are looking trucks, not only to find ways to reduce management hierarchy are gaining forward to this year’s Congress in Bos- operational costs but also to look at more attention as communities look ton. APWA and the Solid Waste Asso- their impact to the environment. Hy- to minimize waste. Internet classified ciation of North America (SWANA) are brids, biofuels and natural gas are all in advertising sites such as Craigslist and co-locating at the Boston Convention place and proving that these new tech- Freecycle have helped provide an out- & Exhibition Center, and solid waste nology trucks can do the job of their let for unwanted items. Additionally, issues will be at the forefront during predecessors with fewer emissions to many states and provinces have ma- the conference. As public works profes- the environment. terial exchange programs, connecting sionals, we will hear about the latest businesses for use of surplus materials technologies, operational case studies Recycling programs have been an im- and equipment. and information about what is work- portant part of solid waste manage- ing in the solid waste field. So keep ment programs. One article in this A more recent concept, although it has Boston in mind as you read this issue issue will in particular address Pay-As- garnered much press in the electronics of the Reporter and try to think about You-Throw (PAYT) and Saving Money waste arena, is that of producer respon- what happens after the curb with your and Reducing Trash (SMART) rate pro- sibility. This concept places responsi- weekly trash and recyclables. grams. These programs look at finan- bility on producers of products related

“There never were in the world two opinions alike, no Diversity more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal Awareness quality is diversity.” – Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), Corner French writer and philosopher

AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION Mission Statement: The American Public Works Association serves its members by promoting professional excellence and public awareness through education, advocacy and the exchange of knowledge. BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADVISORY COUNCIL PRESIDENT DIRECTOR, REGION IV DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE, (Past APWA Presidents) Larry T. Koehle, P.Eng., MPA Shelby P. LaSalle, Jr. ENGINEERING & President Chairman and CEO TECHNOLOGY Noel C. Thompson, Chair L&N Koehle Consulting Krebs, LaSalle, LeMieux Patty Hilderbrand, P.E. Services Consultants, Inc. Program Management & Robert Albee Ken Haag Richard L. Ridings Brampton, ON Metairie, LA Development Manager City of Kansas City, MO PRESIDENT-ELECT DIRECTOR, REGION V Roger K. Brown Erwin F. Hensch John J. Roark George R. Crombie, MPA David L. Lawry, P.E. DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE, Myron D. Calkins Robert S. Hopson Harold E. Smith Senior Faculty Member, Public General Services Group ENVIRONMENTAL Works Administration Director MANAGEMENT Joseph F. Casazza Ronald W. Jensen June Rosentreter Spence Norwich University City of Elgin, IL Daryl Grigsby Northfield, Vermont Public Works Director Nick W. Diakiw Dwayne Kalynchuk Tom Trice DIRECTOR, REGION VI City of Pomona, CA PAST PRESIDENT Larry Stevens, P.E. Robert C. Esterbrooks Martin J. Manning William A. Verkest Noel C. Thompson Senior Project Manager DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE, Consultant Howard R. Green Company FLEET & FACILITIES Jerry M. Fay James J. McDonough Win Westfall Thompson Resources Johnston, IA MANAGEMENT Louisville, KY Ken A. Nerland Bob Freudenthal Robert Miller Carl D. Wills DIRECTOR, REGION VII Director, General Services Dept. DIRECTOR, REGION I Jimmy B. Foster, P.E. City of Fresno, CA Larry W. Frevert Judith M. Mueller Jean-Guy Courtemanche Plano, TX Business Development DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE, Herbert A. Goetsch Ronald L. Norris Lumec, Inc. DIRECTOR, REGION VIII PUBLIC WORKS Boisbriand, QC Ronald J. Calkins, P.E. MGMT./LEADERSHIP J. Geoffrey Greenough Michael R. Pender Director of Public Works Diane Linderman, P.E. DIRECTOR, REGION II City of Ventura, CA Director, Urban Infrastructure Executive Director Executive Director Emeritus Ed Gottko, P.E. and Development Services Peter B. King Robert D. Bugher Town Administrator (retired) DIRECTOR, REGION IX VHB, Inc. Town of Westfield, NJ Doug Drever, P.Eng. Project Director Richmond, VA Editorial Advisory Board DIRECTOR, REGION III City of Saskatoon, SK DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE, Elizabeth Treadway TRANSPORTATION Myron D. Calkins Susan M. Hann Vice President Susan M. Hann, P.E., AICP, AMEC Earth & Environmental ICMA-CM Gordon R. Garner Stephen J. O’Neill Greensboro, NC Deputy City Manager City of Palm Bay, FL Neil S. Grigg Kyle E. Schilling

March 2010 APWA Reporter 3 EPA issues “Endangerment Finding” setting the stage for regulation of carbon dioxide

Julia Anastasio Director of Sustainability American Public Works Association Washington, D.C.

n late 2009 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) EPA’s finding indicates that on-road vehicles contribute at Administrator Lisa Jackson signed an “Endangerment least 23% of total GHG emissions. Finding” that marks the first significant step by the EPA’s action in December 2009 included two distinct find- Obama Administration to regulate greenhouse gas emis- ings that answer the Supreme Court’s holding requiring the sions (GHG) with or without new climate change legislation Agency to determine whether or not emissions of GHG from from Congress. The “Endangerment Finding” sets the stage new motor vehicles cause or contribute to air pollution which for new regulatory requirements under the Clean Air Act may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or (CAA) that may affect municipal solid waste (MSW) opera- welfare. The EPA action included the following two findings: tions nationwide. Under the “Endangerment Finding,” EPA (1) The “Endangerment Finding,” in which the Administra- concluded that “[t]he current and projected atmospheric tor finds that the mix of atmospheric concentrations of six concentrations of six GHGs threaten the public health and key, well-mixed GHGs threaten both the public health and public welfare of current and future generations.” The find- the public welfare of current and future generations. These ing triggers CAA requirements that require the federal gov- six GHGs are: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hy- ernment to regulate fossil fuel emissions from both mobile droflurocarbons, perflurocarbons and sulfur hexathonide. and stationary sources and increases the pressure on Con- These six GHGs in the atmosphere constitute the “air pol- gress to enact comprehensive climate change legislation. lution” that threatens both public health and welfare; and In 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. (2) The “Cause or Contributing Finding,” in which the Ad- EPA (549 U.S. 497 (2007)) that GHGs are “air pollutants” ministrator finds that the combined GHG emissions from under the CAA and held that agency had improperly denied new motor vehicles and motor vehicle engines contribute a petition by several states and environmental organizations to the atmospheric concentrations of these key GHGs and to regulate vehicle GHG emissions under this authority. The hence to the threat of climate change. The finding does not Court’s finding required EPA to determine whether or not impose any new emission reduction requirements but rather emissions of GHG emissions from new motor vehicles cause allows the Agency to proceed with rulemaking procedures. or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be an- The decision to finalize the “Endangerment Finding” paves ticipated to endanger public health or welfare, or whether the way for EPA to begin regulating GHG emissions from the science is too uncertain to make a reasoned decision. cars and light trucks and, subsequently, from other mobile and stationary sources under the CAA. To reach the “Endangerment Finding” EPA considered both observed and projected effects of GHG in the atmosphere, The “Endangerment Finding” enables EPA to further the their effects on climate and the public health, and welfare rulemaking process and to move forward with a joint EPA– risks and impacts associated with such climate change. EPA’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) assessment focused on both public health and public wel- proposal that establishes new GHG standards for new light- fare impacts within the United States, but noted that cur- duty vehicles. The joint proposal establishes a national rent and expected impacts of climate change in other parts program consisting of new standards for model year 2012 of the world can adversely affect the United States. EPA also through 2016 light-duty vehicles that will reduce GHG based its determination on an examination of the scientific emissions and improve fuel economy. EPA is proposing the evidence and careful consideration of public comments. The first-ever national GHG emissions standards under the CAA, agency found that emissions cause prolonged heat waves and NHTSA is proposing revisions to the Corporate Aver- that threaten the health of the sick, poor and elderly, and age Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards under the Energy Policy can increase ground-level ozone pollution linked to such Act. EPA and NHTSA proposed the GHG emission standards respiratory diseases as asthma. GHG emissions also contrib- for motor vehicles in September 2009 and plan to formalize ute to increases in tickborne diseases, food and waterborne the rule early in 2010. pathogens, and airborne allergens from weeds and trees.

4 APWA Reporter March 2010 When EPA finalizes the new GHG emission standards for old requirements would remain in place for five years, dur- motor vehicles in early 2010, additional regulatory changes ing which time EPA would assess the administrability of the to the CAA program will follow. For instance, finalization rule and the possible need to adjust the thresholds. Within of the new GHG emission standards for motor vehicles has six years, EPA anticipates issuing another rule with revised implications for stationary sources, such as MSW landfills. applicability and significance thresholds. Finalization of these standards will trigger Prevention of Sig- EPA estimates that approximately 400 sources would need nificant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Operating Permits to apply for PSD permits annually under the revised thresh- Program requirements. Under the CAA, making a pollutant olds, 14,000 sources would be required to obtain Title V “subject to regulations” triggers the PSD program, under operating permits under the proposed thresholds, and only which new or modified “major emitting facilities” must ob- approximately 3,000 of these sources (mostly MSW landfills) tain certain permits and install Best Available Control Tech- would be newly subject to operating permit requirements as nology (BACT). BACT is determined on a case-by-case basis a result of the new GHG emission standards. According to by the agency during the PSD process. A “major source” is an EPA, MSW landfills are the second largest source of human- entity that emits or has the potential to emit 100 or 250 tons related methane emissions in the U.S., accounting for al- per year of a pollutant, depending on the type of the source, most 23% of 2007 emissions. New MSW landfills producing and the default “significance” threshold is any increase of at least 25,000 tons per year of CO e will need to go through pollutant emissions post-modification. Additionally, sources 2 the PSD process and install BACT at their operations. MSW emitting over 100 tons per year of a regulated pollutant are landfills undergoing major modifications that will lead to generally required to obtain an operating permit under Title the release of 10,000 to 25,000 tons per year will need to V of the CAA. obtain a permit to comply with the new rules. In proposing these changes to the PSD and Title V programs, As Congress struggles to pass comprehensive climate change EPA projects that the application of the CAA statutory 100 legislation, the Obama Administration is methodically or 250 tons per year thresholds for inclusion of sources in the PSD and Title V programs would lead to the regulations moving forward and taking the steps necessary to begin of millions of small sources of GHG emissions and severe regulating GHG emissions. The Administration’s preferred backlogs at state permitting agencies. To avoid this result, approach to regulating GHG emissions is for Congress to EPA is proposing in a “Tailoring rule” to revise the trigger- pass comprehensive climate change legislation. However, it ing thresholds under the PSD program. EPA is considering is unclear that Congress will be successful in passing com- defining a “major source” of GHG emissions as a source pro- prehensive legislation this year and the Administration is setting the stage for some sort of GHG emission regulato- ducing at least 25,000 tons per year of CO2e of a class of six GHGs. The proposal further establishes a PSD significance ry scheme. Owners and operators of MSW landfills should threshold to require PSD permits for any modifications that monitor the proposed CAA changes coming out of EPA in will lead to increased emissions of 10,000 to 25,000 tons per order to be ready to implement any new regulatory requirements and follow legislative developments as Congress con- year CO2e of these gases. The proposed thresholds would “tailor” the permit programs to limit which facilities would siders comprehensive legislation. be required to obtain New Source Review and Title V Per- Julia Anastasio can be reached at (202) 218-6750 or janastasio@ mits, and would cover nearly 70% of the national GHG apwa.net. emissions coming from stationary sources. The new thresh-

March 2010 APWA Reporter 5 A year with the Solid Waste Management Technical Committee

Colene Roberts Professional Development Program Coordinator American Public Works Association Kansas City, Missouri

ave you met them? You’ve probably read or heard • Environmental Justice in Providing Public Works Services their work. The members of APWA’s Solid Waste Advocacy position papers are used to provide APWA’s stand Management Technical Committee are: Keith How- on particular issues to legislators in Washington. The com- ard, Chair, FL; Charlie Jones, PA; Ziad Mazboudi, CA; mittee is working on two new advocacy position papers. Rick Person, MN; Marc Rogoff, FL; and Mark Whitfield, PA. One new paper in the works is in support of the creation of At-Large Director Daryl Grigsby serves as Board Liaison to a Do Not Mail list similar to the Do Not Call registry. The the committee and Colene Roberts is Staff Liaison. other new paper is in support of a take-back program for The committee begins its year at Congress. They get together pharmaceuticals. The Water Resources Management Com- for their first face-to-face meeting and adopt a business plan mittee is co-sponsoring the paper. More information on the for the coming year. Last year, they met in Columbus and pharmaceuticals disposal can be found in Ziad Mazboudi’s came up with the plan that you can find on APWA’s website article on page 42. The rest of the solid waste-related advo- by clicking on “Technical Committees” and choosing “Solid cacy position papers are: Waste Management.” You can also find summaries of all of • Brownfields the committee’s meetings and a roster of the members. • Electronics Recycling At Congress, committee members attend their committee’s three-hour meeting. Some committee members may also ar- • Federal Resource Conservation & Recovery Act Program range to meet with another committee if they are working (Public Law 94-580) on a joint project. Since the committee provides three education sessions for Congress every year, you’ll usually find • Integrated Solid Waste Management Systems members speaking or moderating sessions. Sessions planned • Municipal Solid Waste Flow Control for this year’s Congress in Boston include some special guest speakers on Tuesday morning, a workshop on Wednesday, • Municipal Solid Waste Organics Recycling and education sessions on food waste and the economics of • Resource Recovery Utilizing Waste-to-Energy/Thermal recycling. Conversion Technologies Each month after Congress, the committee meets by confer- • Superfund ence call. Their calls usually begin with a report from their Board Liaison on Board activities and current events for the • Urban Infilling Impacts on Solid Waste Facilities Association. They also receive an update from APWA staff on In late February or March of each year, the committee has its legislative activity in Washington, D.C. second face-to-face meeting. This time they meet for a full The committee’s work on legislative issues doesn’t stop with day. They use the meeting to make all of their plans for the an update over the phone. They communicate via e-mail coming year. They brainstorm topics for articles, Congress regularly. They keep the Association’s solid waste-related sessions, online programs and publications. Past years’ pub- advocacy and guidance position papers up-to-date. Guid- lications have included Solid Waste Rate Setting and Financing ance papers are for use by APWA members and they include Guide and Solid Waste Pocket Guide. Another new book will things like best management practices, leadership tools or be coming out later this year. It is a compilation of strange resource conservation measures. and humorous stories from inside the solid waste profession. Flip though this issue of the Reporter to see what topics The guidance position papers relating to solid waste are: were picked for this year’s articles. This issue is filled with • Environmentally Preferable and Recycled Content Prod- articles written or provided by members of the Solid Waste uct and Service Procurement Management Committee.

6 APWA Reporter March 2010 Committee members spend a great deal of time reading, writing and discussing a variety of solid waste topics. Then, they do their best to weed out the really hot topics and get some information out to APWA’s membership. Whether it’s collection, contracting, recycling, organics, special wastes, landfills, waste-to-energy, or waste reduction, their goal is to stay on top of it. It’s a tremendous volunteer effort by a group of tremendous volunteers.

Are you a solid waste professional? Then, FYI, APWA rec- ognizes outstanding performance in the field of solid waste management. So, start working on your award application A plan unveiled: the U.S. Bicycle and maybe you’ll be walking across the stage at next year’s Route System Congress. A year ago, the American Association of State Highway Need another tip? APWA.net’s infoNOW Communities are a and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved a na- great place to ask questions, answer questions or share some tional corridor plan for an official U.S. Bicycle Route interesting program ideas. And, you can find links to solid System. The plan is a blueprint for an urban/suburban/ waste-related news on the “Links of Interest” post to the rural network of bicycle routes connecting all parts of Environment Community. These posts go out about every the continental U.S.—potentially the largest cycling network in the world. other month. Now, some states are starting to turn the plan into re- Colene Roberts can be reached at (816) 595-5221 or croberts@ ality by defining new U.S. routes and levying support apwa.net. from all levels of transportation and government. Ad- venture Cycling Association, a nonprofit bicycle organization which provides staff support for the project, helps coordinate information between state and local YOUR VOTE IN APWA DOES COUNT agencies, cycling interests, and the national AASHTO As an APWA member, you will have the opportunity to Task Force on U.S. Bicycle Routes. vote for members of the APWA Board of Directors between June 25 and July 23, 2010: • For an overview of the project, visit www. adventurecycling.org/usbrs. • APWA President-Elect; • From this page, be sure to visit the links on the • Three At-Large Directors in the functional areas of right-hand toolbar: Environmental Management, Transportation, and Corridor Plan Map – see the national corri- Management/Leadership; and o dor-level plan • Regions III, IV and VII Regional Directors (by APWA o FAQs – answers to all your questions members in those respective regions). o Resources – tools for implementation, studies, etc. The ballot will be available for online voting between o Discussion Forums – see progress corridor- June 25 and July 23 on the “Members Only” section by-corridor of the APWA website. There will also be a voting icon on the home page of our website. If you do not have • To get involved in discussions, become a access to a computer at home or work, you should be member: http://wearepublicworks.org/group/ able to access the APWA website online at your local usbikeroutesystem public library. You may request a paper ballot from Kaye • Become a fan of the U.S. Bicycle Route Facebook Sullivan at (800) 848-APWA if you cannot vote online. page and receive biweekly blog posts regarding na- Additional reminders of the voting process will be sent tional progress: www.adventurecycling.org/usbrs- through the infoNOW Communities; through an e-mail facebook to every member for whom we have an e-mail address; and in future issues of the APWA Reporter. • To view the Application and Instructions, visit AASHTO Special Committee on U.S. Route Num- If you have questions, please contact Kaye Sullivan, bering: http://cms.transportation.org/?siteid=68 APWA Deputy Executive Director, at ksullivan@apwa. net or (800) 848-APWA (2792), extension 5233. Submitted by Ginny Sullivan, Special Projects Director, Ad- venture Cycling Association, Missoula, Montana

March 2010 APWA Reporter 7 One man’s junk is another man’s treasure

Stacey David President and CEO Rattletrap Productions, Inc. Omaha, Nebraska Madison, Tennessee April 18-21, 2010 Keynote Speaker, 2010 Snow Conference Editor’s Note: Stacey David is one of the Keynote Speakers at the 2010 APWA North American Snow Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. His Opening Gen- eral Session presentation is entitled “One Man’s Junk, Another Man’s Treasure” and takes place at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, April 18. For more information on the upcoming Snow Conference, please see pages 10-11 in this issue or visit www.apwa.net/snow.

As many people have discovered, one of the greatest joys in life is finding a hidden treasure or forgotten gem in an unlikely place. This seems to appeal to the treasure hunter in all of us. But ironically, most treasures are not found in a sunken chest or a buried box— they are found in a pile of junk. And some of us make a living in bringing that junk back to life! Stacey David is the Opening Session Keynote Speaker at the 2010 APWA North American Snow Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Over the years, as a professional builder of custom vehicles, I have dragged car bug. I built models all the time, de- rods and play Chuck Berry licks on my some pretty nasty projects home, voured all kinds of automotive books, guitar. Now keep in mind my dad was a much to the chagrin of my parents and built go-karts, and yammered non-stop “strictly stock” kind of guy. To him “fac- subsequently my wife! However, each about cars and trucks all day long. I tory original” was best, and any modi- time I’ve rolled some dilapidated piece must have driven them completely cra- fied car was just hacked up. When the of junk into the shop, it didn’t matter zy! On top of that I was always out in day finally came, and my dad asked me if other people thought it was garbage the garage working on things, destroy- what kind of car I wanted, I dragged or not. To me it was a diamond in the ing Dad’s tools, and melting down his him and Mom by an old service sta- rough, a treasure for which I already drill bits. tion on the outskirts of town. There sat had a vision of what it was to become. a butchered-up 1930 Model A coupe Now keep in mind I didn’t come from with a small block Ford engine in it that But, is it really that easy? Well…no, a wealthy home. If we wanted things looked like someone had installed it by it’s not. Sometimes there are naysayers like cars or trucks, we knew that we tossing it from across the street. It was and skeptics that can kill your dream would have to get a job and pay for it a heap! “That is the car for me,” I told because they just don’t get it. And the ourselves. With four kids in the family, them. My dad was flabbergasted and challenge falls on our shoulders to con- there wasn’t a lot of extra money to go about wrecked the car when we drove vince them otherwise. I learned this around. However, when each of us kids past it. “You want that piece of junk?” lesson early on, with the purchase of hit graduation age, my parents would he said…and then punctuated his dis- my very first car. But to get the whole somehow come up with some money gust with some especially salty words impact of the story, we have to lay to get us our first set of wheels, to help that bounced off the interior of the car some earlier groundwork of my back- get us going. like hail on a flat rock. “What the !#@% ground. When I was a senior in high school, would you do with a car like that?” My parents had known for many years my parents had to know what was Of course I was prepared for this, and that I was completely eaten up with the coming because all I did was talk hot easily dodged the four-letter barrage

8 APWA Reporter March 2010 and dove into a grand explanation of all the dreams and visions I had for the car, and what I was going to do to it. I know that even though my parents couldn’t relate to a word of what I was saying, they could see the fire and passion that I had for it. I will never for- get my dad finally looking at me and saying, “Son, I don’t understand what you see in that old piece of junk, and I would never dream of buying it, let alone drive it down the street. But I can see that it means a lot to you, so…” He pulled out an old rumpled envelope that looked like it had some paper in it and handed it to me. “It’s yours, compliments of your mom and me. Now let’s see what you can do with it.”

I couldn’t believe it! Those sneaky parents of mine had been listening and had gone out there and negoti- ated a price with the owner. But they both wanted to make sure I was serious about this thing and it wasn’t just a whim, because they couldn’t afford to waste money on junk. This was to be my car, my transportation, and they had done everything they could to try and talk me out of it and be “sensible.” Fortunately, I had persuaded them the other way, and they had decided to see where this would go.

And where did it go? Well, the rest as they say, is history. That ol’ Model A literally started me down the automotive path that I am still running full- speed on today. A path we’ll talk about a lot more later on!

Stacey David is best known as the host of the top-rated television show “TRUCKS!” where for eight years he wrote, produced, designed and built custom vehicles. His loyal fan base helped “TRUCKS!” maintain the highest viewership for automotive how-to programming since the show first aired in 1998, and it was consistently one of Spike TV’s highest-rated shows overall. Stacey’s television series “GearZ” supplies the gearhead/car enthusiast/do-it-yourself- er with the ultimate hands-on mechanical television show. A new season of “GearZ” airs on the Speed Channel (Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. EDT). For more information about Stacey David and “GearZ” please visit www.staceydavid.com. 2010 APWA North American Snow Conference

2010 APWA North American Snow Conference

2010 APWA North American Snow Conference The Show For Snow! 2010 APWA North American Snow Conference Go to www.apwa.net/snow for more information and to register for the 2010 North American Snow Conference! April 18-21, 2010 Qwest Center, Omaha, Nebraska Hosted2010 by APWAthe APWA Nebraska North Chapater American Snow Conference www.apwa.net/snow If you have the desire to gain new ideas to improve your agency’s winter maintenance program, the 2010 APWA North American Snow Conference is the place to be! ACQUIRE insight into the latest snow equipment and technology

DISCOVER new ways of interpreting weather forecasts EXPLORE ways of improving community relations LEARN how to plan for effective snow and ice removal NETWORK with top snow and ice experts from across North America

The Snow Conference Exhibit Floor is bigger and better than ever, with more than 120 companies participating! Everything from innovative new equipment and technology to ground-breaking new products and services focused on snow & ice removal and winter operations will be on display. Come kick some tires at The Show for Snow!

12:45 – 1:45 p.m. Roundtable Discussion Groups Tuesday, April 20 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Use of De-Icing Liquids Education Sessions 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Operator Perspective – Snow Plow Roadeo Exhibit Hours: 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Changing the Way We Do Business – Wednesday, April 21 Opening General Session New Innovations in Budgeting Argentina’s Winter Maintenance Story One Man’s Junk, Another Man’s Treasure Sidewalks & Code Enforcement 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Deicing Liquid Additives – Demystified 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon Keynote Speaker: Stacey David Federal Highway Projects Education Sessions What the Public Expects in Winter Roadway Technical Tour Sunday, April 18 Operator/ Fleet Issues Latest Results From FHWA’s Road Weather Performance Fleet Maintenance and Snow & Ice 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Post Storm Data – What Do I Do with It Now? Management Program Snowplow COMBAT Operations Exhibit Hours: 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Exhibit Opening and Welcome Reception Focus on Safety How Do We Do It? What New Technologies Are You Using? Anti-icing and Deicing Decisions for Runways 1:45 – 2:45 p.m. 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Monday April 19 and Ramps Education Sessions Education Sessions 2:00 – 2:50 p.m. To Contract Out or Not to Contract Out – Domestic Scan Results Operator/Fleet Panel Discussion Exhibit Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Education Sessions Plowing and Spreading Equipment Snow from State to City Snow and Ice Control 101 How To Do Certification/Training on a Sustainability and Certification Understanding Customer Service Level 8:00 – 9:30 a.m. Shoestring Budget 10:10 – 11:00 a.m. Growth of Liquid De-icing in Europe – Past, Expectations General Session “Talk Show” Environmental Management of Road Salts Education Sessions Present and Future Anti-Icing – An Argentina Perspective Plowing Through the Media Effective Use of AVL & Weather Data in Lessen the Environmental Impacts of Snow & Winter Operations Ice Materials While Improving Safety 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. 10:30 – 11:20 a.m. 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. New Guidelines for Spreader Calibration A Fully Integrated Maintenance Decision Education Sessions Education Sessions Closing General Session Support System – A Successful Operational How to Keep on Keeping On New Snowfighter Training Tool Do Not Neglect Snow & Ice Training In 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Go to www.apwa.net/snow for Deployment Keynote Speaker: Tom Osborne Road Weather – The Science Behind What Difficult Budget Times Education Sessions The City of Kearney’s Snow & Ice Melter complete descriptions of all You Know New Developments in Chloride Toxicity Ensuring Salt Supplies at Reasonable Costs Program 5:30 p.m. education sessions. Overview of Airport Winter Maintenance Working with the Media Maximizing Vehicle Resale Values Using the Write it Right! – Developing an Effective Buses depart for Dinner at the Strategic Air Operations Clear Roads Research Report Internet Winter Operations Snow & Ice Control and Space Museum Effective Operator Training Strategies Should Your Agency Lower Snowfighting Service Manual Levels to Match Tighter Budgets? Public Works: Preparing for Emergency Response 2010 APWA North American Snow Conference

2010 APWA North American Snow Conference

Fred Thole City Maintenance Superintendent City of Omaha, Nebraska Past President, APWA Nebraska Chapter

On April 21, the final day of APWA’s course, equipment on display from the al equipment as it is being repaired; North American Snow Conference, attend- City of Omaha, Douglas County, the a spreader calibration station will be ees will be able to visit two Omaha Public State of Nebraska, and others. There staffed; and, just for fun, plan on set- Works facilities. For more information on will be equipment operators and man- ting aside some time to see Omaha’s this year’s conference, see the special two- agers available to discuss any questions Bomb Squad Robot and “MERV,” the page section (pages 10-11) in this issue of you may have about these operations. assault vehicle. the Reporter or visit www.apwa.net/snow. All participants will have free run of the yard which has salt storage, computer- Have an appetite for hands-on learn- ized fuel and security systems, a me- ing, observation and one-on-one chanics bay, and the lunch room with Q&A? The 2010 APWA Snow Confer- refreshments. This is not a structured ence Technical Tour should satisfy your tour so attendees are free to spend their hunger. time in the areas of interest to them. The Midwest has had an abnormal winter, pushing operations to extreme limits. December has given the Omaha Inside the Fleet Maintenance Public Works area a season’s worth of snow in five repair shop weeks followed by several weeks of freezing rain, drizzle and fog coupled In addition to the “fun” stuff, equip- with cold temperatures. ment, operations and displays manag- We have set records for the most snow ers will be on hand to discuss equip- in December since 1947 and the cold- ment acquisition and disposal, parts est December since 1996. Keeping the room, inventory, etc. As with Street Maintenance this tour will be unstruc- transportation system operational has The City of Omaha’s Street Maintenance been challenging to say the least. Facility tured to allow the attendees to spend their time as they wish. Refreshments This year’s Technical Tour will take The Fleet Maintenance side should will of course be in the lunch room. you into two areas of interest: Street prove equally as interesting. Omaha’s As with all large communities, Oma- Maintenance snow removal opera- Fleet Maintenance Manager will be ha’s snow removal is complex and is tions and Fleet Maintenance, and how featuring his Consolidated Fleet Opera- comprised of spreading, liquid applica- the two dovetail together to keep the tions which includes Fire, Police and tion, snow blowing, hauling and plow- city moving. Public Works vehicles. This tour will ing, with a large variety of equipment, feature a computerized fleet manage- The Street Maintenance side will be and is structured to use both City em- ment system for tracking all vehicle held at our largest District Yard and will ployees and contractors. Come spend costs, centralized fuel management, include a wide variety of snow removal some time in the shops—we’ll compare a mobile service operation, as well as operations. We have a liquid deicing notes, have some coffee and dough- Fire, Police and Public Works ongoing portion with brine-making, storage, nuts, and learn a bit from each other. additives, distribution and equipment; repair areas. The Fabrication Shop will an operational section where we’ll have a display on the building of our Fred Thole is an officer in the Nebraska demonstrate how we track operations liquid brine distributors. Technicians Chapter. He can be reached at (402) 444- at the front-line manager level; and, of will be on hand to discuss equipment 4940 or [email protected]. and repairs. We’ll display snow remov-

12 APWA Reporter March 2010 or more information about these programs or to register online, visit www.apwa.net/Education. Program information will be updated as it becomes available. Questions? Call the Professional Development Department at 1-800-848-APWA.

2010 March 11 If Only I’d Known—Developing Disaster Recovery Exercises EDUCATION AT YOUR DESKTOP March 25 LED Technology

EDUCATION AT YOUR DESKTOP March 29-30 Construction Inspection: A Review – Lakewood, CA

March 31 Public Infrastructure Inspector Study Guide – Lakewood, CA

April 8-9 PSMJ’s Public Works Project Management Bootcamp – Chicago, IL

April 18–21 North American Snow Conference

April 20 Self Assessment Using the Management Practices Manual - Rolling Meadows, IL

May 6 Complete Streets—Designing Streets to Accommodate All Users EDUCATION AT YOUR DESKTOP May 6-7 PSMJ’s Public Works Project Management Bootcamp – Washington, DC

May 13 Developing and Utilizing a Strategic Plan EDUCATION AT YOUR DESKTOP May 13-14 PSMJ’s Public Works Project Management Bootcamp – Denver, CO

May 20 Utility Coordination for Municipal Capital Improvement Projects EDUCATION AT YOUR DESKTOP May 20-21 PSMJ’s Public Works Project Management Bootcamp – San Francisco, CA

June 8-10 Sustainability in Public Works Conference – Minneapolis, MN

June 9 Stormwater Study Guide Part 1

June 16 Stormwater Study Guide Part 2

June 23 Stormwater Study Guide Part 3

= Click, Listen, & Learn program = Web-Based Training = Live Workshop

EDUCATION AT YOUR DESKTOP If you have expertise in any of these upcoming topics, please use the online Call for Presentations form to describe your expertise and perspective on the topic. www.apwa.net/callforpresentations/

Self Assessment Using the Management Practices Manual A Tool for Improving Operations and Management

April 20, 2010 • Rolling Meadows, Illinois

March 2010 APWA Reporter 13 The team behind the scenes opens its doors

Modesta Luca Office Services Supervisor Public Works and Utilities City of Kamloops, British Columbia

ational Public Works Week, held in May each year, • ECOSmart Team onsite with balloons and eco-friendly is recognized by numerous municipalities to cele- giveaways brate the efforts of thousands of men and women throughout North America who provide and main- • Tree coupons tain infrastructure and related services that are commonly In addition, there were tours of the Kamloops Centre for known as public works. By doing so, the American Public Water Quality (a nationally recognized water treatment fa- Works Association and Canadian Public Works Association cility) as well as drop-in information sessions about a career seek to raise citizen awareness of public works issues and in public works. to increase confidence in public works employees who are dedicated to improving the quality of life for all citizens and The open house was advertised through various media out- for future generations. lets, and invitations were sent to all elementary school children in grades one to five. Many departments within the The City of Kamloops has approximately 200 staff providing City worked together to organize and promote the event. public works and utilities services and together they work As this was the first time the City hosted an event of this hard each day to ensure that infrastructure, facilities and type, it was unknown how many people to expect, but City services that are vital to the health, safety and well-being employees were enthusiastic and ready to showcase their of the residents of Kamloops are maintained. Whether it be services. fighting a major snowstorm at 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning, collection of solid waste and recycling bins, or operating our The event was a huge success and was attended by over 500 nationally-recognized Kamloops Centre for Water Quality people. The children enjoyed riding in the large machinery treatment facility to produce safe drinking water 365 days and the adults picked up some great tips for the home and per year, the Public Works Centre employees in Kamloops garden as well as a better understanding of how the City are proud of the work they do. operates. (See photos on p. 15 – Ed.)

In 2009, Kamloops Public Works employees had a vision to This event was not only successful as a community builder, stimulate public interest in their work in Kamloops and cre- but it also boosted morale amongst the City employees. The ate events that would be as good as or better than anywhere event allowed staff to showcase what they did on a day-to- else in North America. Organizers got together and planned day basis and educate the public about all the services the an open house at their new Public Works Centre on Satur- department provides. It revitalized relationships amongst day, May 23, 2009. This was a free event for everyone to the employees and gave them an opportunity to proudly participate in and to celebrate National Public Works Week. showcase their skills and abilities. Our employee union also partnered with the City by covering the cost of food and The open house ran from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. with a beverages. variety of activities and demonstrations such as: Due to the many positive comments received from the pub- • Various large equipment displays – take a “high” ride in lic and the employees, it was agreed that the event would be a bucket truck held biannually in May during National Public Works Week.

• Facility tours Modesta Luca can be reached at (250) 828-3348 or mluca@ kamloops.ca. • Free hot dogs and refreshments (sponsored by Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 900) This year’s National Public Works Week theme is “Public Works: Above, Below & All Around You.” For a “How To” guide for plan- • Tour of the City greenhouse ning your NPWW activities, just go to www.apwa.net/About/ • Hanging basket demonstrations (free draw for a hang- npww/2010. If you have any questions regarding the promotion ing basket) of National Public Works Week, please contact Jon Dilley, Man- ager of Marketing and Graphic Design, at (816) 595-5251 or Landscaping tips • [email protected].

14 APWA Reporter March 2010 Signing up for the popular greenhouse tour Construction and Rehabilitation Utility crews giving lessons on the mini excavators

Lining up for free hot dogs prepared by City staff. Hot dogs and Educational activities with the ECOSmart Team refreshments were sponsored by CUPE Local 900.

A panoramic view of the Kamloops Public Works Centre ECOSmart Team members have great people skills and enjoy interacting with the public. March 2010 APWA Reporter 15 L.A. women excel in solid resources

Cora Jackson-Fossett Director, Public Affairs Office Department of Public Works City of Los Angeles, California Member, APWA Membership Committee

hile some view solid waste ble positions until landing her current “But after three years, I found myself as “trash,” three Los An- assignment where she manages the a single mom, back in the working geles women consider it a City’s commercial recycling programs field. All I ever did was drive a truck, “treasure” when it comes and the integrated push to reach a 70 so I went to truck driving school and to their careers. percent diversion of solid waste in the achieved a Class A license. From that City of Los Angeles by 2013. The City point on, I knew I was destined to be Karen Coca, Chermaine Fontenette currently has achieved a 65 percent a trucker,” says Fontenette, who drove and Reina Pereira are employed by L.A. diversion rate, leading the ten largest for various companies before joining Department of Public Works Bureau cities in the nation. Coca also oversees the Bureau of Sanitation in 2005. of Sanitation, a municipal agency of numerous programs that manage the 3,000-plus majority male workers. Yet, safe and proper disposal of household all three have excelled in positions tra- hazardous waste (HHW), used oil, uni- ditionally held by men. versal waste and sharp objects, as well As manager of the Solid Resources City- as the permitting and management of wide Recycling Division, Coca says, “I 150 private waste haulers. was bitten by the trash bug as a student “Being a waste reduction leader is a at Valley College. My instructor was great joy,” she says. “I’ve seen many from the City’s Planning Department. concepts move from an innovative I did a free internship with them and idea to implementation over the past wrote the Solid Waste Element of the 17 years.” During those years, Coca fol- City’s General Plan.” lowed four keys that led to her career success.

“Those keys are simple: (1) Work hard; (2) Maintain integrity—it is not worth it to compromise your values for short-term gain; (3) Give your boss all the positives and negatives—share information; (4) Make your boss look good,” says Coca.

Fontenette, a refuse collection truck op- Chermaine Fontenette erator, drives a 16-ton vehicle to collect trash from 600 residents a day. She con- However, Fontenette acknowledges fesses, “I love to drive trucks and have this field can be challenging. “While been driving all types since 1991—ce- this job provides stability and security ment trucks, double flat bed, lumber for my girls, the trucking industry is tractor-trailers, bottom dumps, transfer demanding and can be even more frus- trucks, a beverage delivery truck, all the trating when gender comes into the way down to a water truck.” equation. Women need to work harder to prove themselves,” she says. Her attraction to truck driving occurred following high school when she took a “When I applied, I was aware this is Karen Coca job at United Parcel Service. After ten a non-traditional job for women. But I give it a 100 percent effort each day. In 1993, she joined the Bureau of Sani- years there, she married, had two girls, My success comes from always be- tation and held increasingly responsi- and enjoyed life as a housewife.

16 APWA Reporter March 2010 ing professional and sufficient. I have management, and you can transition office. Do fun things when you are not confidence in myself, my job, and my into these various disciplines to give at work, and turn off your Blackberry. abilities.” yourself a well-rounded experience to Believe me; it will still be there when decipher your true calling.” you return on Monday.”

One highlight of Pereira’s career was Fontenette notes, “Where there is a transforming an old landfill into a park will, there is a way. I know. I made it for the local community. “I learned to happen for myself and I would do it all effectively manage a construction job, over again.” to multi-task and prioritize, and use all my resources to the best of my ability. Pereira adds, “Enjoy what you do, and The end product was a beautiful park do it to the best of your ability. Always with a beautiful view, overlooking use sound and impartial judgment, be Dodger Stadium and the downtown willing to share information and uti- L.A. skyline…and I was a part of mak- lize resources to get the job done, and ing that happen.” always be true to yourself and your core values.” All three women shared similar advice and “words of wisdom” concerning ca- Cora Jackson-Fossett chaired the Diversity reer decisions. Coca says, “No matter Committee in 2004-06. She can be reached how much your sense of responsibility at (213) 978-0333 or Cora.Jackson@ is to your job, you must leave it in the lacity.org.

Reina Pereira Order Custom Bulk Pereira also possesses a high level of confidence as a senior environmental Editorial Reprints engineer with the Bureau of Sanita- tion. During her 19-year career, she has worked on various landfill closure and end-use projects, and a landfill groundwater remediation project. Currently, she serves as project manager for the City’s Solid Waste Integrated Resources Plan (SWIRP), a stakeholder-driven approach to developing a zero waste program for the City over the next twenty years.

“I’ve always enjoyed my job. I enjoy working with a wide diversity of peo- Now that you have been featured in the APWA ple, and learning from each and every Reporter, why not leverage this opportunity to one of them, no matter what their po- promote your product or service with custom reprints? sition,” says Pereira, who cites her keys to success as “being open, consistent, Custom reprints are available in quantities of 100 or more and true to your core values and striving to are printed on high-quality, gloss-coated paper stock in black & be the best you can be.” white or full color. Custom reprints make great handouts at trade She encourages women to consider ca- shows, and direct mail pieces. reers in the environmental field. “The sky is the limit, if you have a passion Call our reprint department at and interest in environmental issues,” Pereira says. “Sanitation is at the cut- (800) 259-0470 for complete details. ting edge with numerous technologies and innovations in the areas of wastewater, stormwater and solid resources

March 2010 APWA Reporter 17 Rolling Meadows Public Works Citizens Academy

Bob Hartnett Assistant Director City of Rolling Meadows, Illinois COMMUNITIES

he City of Rolling Meadows Public Works Department Academy and encouraged residents to register by contacting has created a Citizens Training Academy, whose pur- Public Works. We hoped to draw at least 15 participants, and pose is to showcase the value of public works services, these slots filled very quickly. We expanded the roster to 20 educate participants so that they have an increased residents and then added additional names to a waiting list. awareness of these public services, and provide participants The residents on the waiting list were given priority registra- a first-hand look at the public works operations that affect tion for the 2009 class. The 2009 Academy was expanded to all residents. 30 participants. We feel comfortable hosting 30 residents, due to the size of our facility and our desire to provide every Our Department has a very experienced team of employees participant with a valuable, hands-on experience. who looked forward to sharing information and teaching participants about the daily activities of the Public Works Depart- ment. The program was delivered to residents over a series of weekday-evening lectures, hands-on presentations and Satur- day class, which we called a Field Day, that included a tour of several actual job sites. The Field Day ended by providing participants with a luncheon and group photo. The following is a description of how the program came to be and a summary of each of the classes presented. Background The Rolling Meadows Public Works Department has had a long history of providing educational opportunities to its residents. Some of the outreach programs that have been completed in the past include: Class photo of the Spring 2009 Public Works Citizens Academy • Facility tours for school groups and Scout Troops; The first series of classes were held during March and April • Speaking engagements at schools and business associa- of 2008. tions; Inaugural Public Works Academy • Presentations at community groups such as the Garden The Inaugural Academy kicked off on Thursday, March 27, Club; 2008. The group met on the following two Thursdays, and a “Field Day” tour was scheduled for Saturday, April 12. The • Public Works Facility Open House tours. classes followed the schedule as outlined in the syllabus. As The idea of providing citizens with a hands-on training pro- residents arrived for the initial class, they were ushered into gram grew out of these other activities. Residents often won- the Department’s lunch room, which doubles as a training der how various pieces of equipment they see around the facility. Each class member was given informational packets city are used and maintained. that included the following:

Following our move to a brand new facility in 1997, we have • Class syllabus regularly hosted an annual open house at this facility. In • Name badge 2007, we hosted an informational booth at the open house • Notepad and pen to solicit residents’ interest in a Citizens Training Academy, • Shirt order form scheduled for spring 2008. • Safety vest and ear plugs Several people expressed an interest and these residents were Class Summaries advised to watch the City newsletter for additional informa- Class #1. The opening evening provided introductions of tion. The February 2008 issue announced the first Citizens both key staff members and class participants. A Power-

18 APWA Reporter March 2010 Point™ presentation gave an overview of each class, and a on how the systems are operated. The Water Division pro- tour of the facility was provided. When the tour reached the vided a mock demonstration of how much water a leaking Department’s Motor Pool, the class was shown displays of toilet can lose and how the repairs could be completed by various pieces of City equipment. Two of the Department’s the average homeowner. The Underground Utilities Divi- mechanics provided a walk-around tour of the equipment sion provided residents with an overview of how their home and had various repair items on display. One display in- sanitary sewer laterals can be maintained to prevent block- cluded an actual fire truck pump that was cut open so class ages. Class participants were also instructed on what to look members could see the internal workings of the pump and for and the types of questions residents should ask a po- learn how they operate. Following the tour, residents heard tential sewer contractor if and when they need to have the a presentation by the Department’s Facilities technicians. A sewer lateral maintained. The presentations were separated PowerPoint™ presentation detailed several City buildings by a break and both sessions ended with a question-and- and park sites that the Division maintains, along with some answer period. This class was scheduled to be two hours of the various specialized tools that the technicians use. long, ending at 8:30 p.m. However, residents’ interest in the topic stretched the Q and A sessions past 9:00 p.m. Class #2. The second evening’s presentations were provided by the Department’s two Utilities Divisions. In Roll- Class #3. Our third class met at the Department’s second ing Meadows, our Water Division is primarily responsible facility for the following reasons: 1) the Department’s resi- for the City’s water pumping and water storage facilities, dential Refuse Collection Division was housed there; 2) the while the Underground Utilities Division is responsible for large parking garage was used for an indoor tree-trimming repairing and maintaining all underground water, sewer and presentation; and 3) residents would be able to compare and storm sewer piping, manholes, water vaults, shutoff valves, contrast the two buildings and see the improvements made fire hydrants and lift stations. Presentations that were pre- in the staff’s working environment. The Street Division’s pared by each Division consisted of a lecture and hands-on presentation included an overview of the various trucks and displays. The displays included a wide range of pipes and equipment used for street patching, sign making, and snow- valves that are installed below grade, while lectures focused plowing. Displays included samples of various pavement

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Donaldson Co Half Pg Horiz_APWA_Jan2010.indd 1 12/11/2009 11:40:14 AM March 2010 APWA Reporter 19 materials, deicing products and road signs. The Forestry Di- • Residents get a first-hand look at the unique equipment vision’s presentation was very interesting because they had a and specialized tools that are used to maintain and re- small tree staked up in the parking garage, and they showed pair the city’s infrastructure. Academy participants the various trimming techniques The 45 residents who have participated in the Citizens used to remove limbs and discussed the various reasons why • Academy over the last two years have become advocates parkway trees are trimmed in the manner that they are. The for the Public Works Department’s programs. final presentation of the evening was by the Refuse Division. This presentation proved to be a class favorite. The refuse • Two members of the Academy class have begun volun- collection crews set up a row of actual refuse stops from the teer assignments with the Public Works Department, weekly routes, and we allowed Academy participants to ride and a third is considering joining this group. the back of the refuse trucks from stop to stop collecting waste just like the City’s garbage collectors. • The Academy has had a positive effect on the Depart- ment’s employees as well. All have participated in some level of the program.

• One of the Academy’s unique qualities is that the majority of the topics are developed and presented by the employees of the Department, while supervisors and administrative staff take a backseat role. In other words, the employees who perform the various public service jobs in the community have the opportunity to share their experience and knowledge with residents. Program Costs and Return on Investment The Public Works Administrative Division budgets $1,500 for the supplies and uniforms provided to the class participants. The largest cost items are the polo-style embroidered Citizens Academy participants see how road signs are made. logo shirts everyone receives. The safety vests and ear plugs Class #4 – Field Day Tour. The Field Day tour is a high- are taken out of stock and these items are replenished prior light of the Citizens Training Academy. The City was able to the seasonal employees coming to work in late spring. to borrow a shuttle bus from a local park district that shut- Food items for each class and the Field Day lunch are also tled Academy participants to various work sites around the budgeted in this category. City, where staff members had set up live demonstrations The Public Works Citizens Academy is conducted after nor- of utility excavations, street resurfacing operations, work mal working hours; therefore, the amount of man-hours zone signage, and the televising of a sanitary sewer line. The used for each class is managed by the Divisional Supervi- class members came dressed in coats, hats, boots and gloves. sors. On average, each evening class is hosted by two to four They all seemed to enjoy being outdoors and working with employees from the Division. Each employee devotes ap- the Public Works Department employees they had come to proximately four hours of time for their presentations, and know very well over the previous three weeks. Staff mem- for cleanup at the end of the evening. Employees are also bers at each venue provided instructions on safety precau- allowed time during normal working hours to prepare their tions and demonstrated the operation of various pieces of presentations. Employees are compensated using both over- equipment. At the conclusion of the Field Day tour, class time and comp time. The return on this investment is found members and the employees who conducted the tours were in the following benefits: treated to a barbeque-style picnic lunch, hosted by the Pub- lic Works Department. After lunch we held a group photo • The residents who have taken the class have nothing shoot. The final time the participants of the Citizens Acad- but compliments for this program and sincere praise emy met was at the Rolling Meadows City Council Meeting, for the employees that they met during the Academy where they received Certificates of Completion and were classes. recognized by the Mayor and City Council members. • Employee morale has improved greatly by having the Benefits of the Citizens Academy opportunity to share their insight and knowledge about their careers. Rolling Meadows Public Works has benefited greatly from its decision to launch its Citizens Training Academy: • Since the Department’s new facility opened in 1997, the appearance and working conditions in and around the • Residents receive a better understanding of how the city physical plant have been a source of pride for employ- they live in works, and learn about the many facets of ees and administrators alike. When the Academy is in public works operations. session, one can almost feel a sense of pride in the build-

20 APWA Reporter March 2010 ing when all of the Divisions are taking extra time and Questions and Further Information care to spruce up and prepare their work areas for their If you have specific questions about the program please con- evening’s presentations. tact Bob Hartnett, Assistant Public Works Director, or Fred • During the weeks leading up to and following the Citi- Vogt, Public Works Director, City of Rolling Meadows, at zens Academy, the Public Works Department is fea- (847) 963-0500 or [email protected]. tured in several articles in the City’s monthly newsletter. These articles present information on the Citizens Academy, serve as a recruiting tool to increase residents’ awareness, and may also focus on a new or revised public program. • During the presentation of the “Certificates of Comple- tion,” the residents who completed the class have an opportunity to provide City officials with their thanks for offering the program. Some of the comments we have received at the awards ceremony are listed below:

“All of the presentations were interesting and informative; I don’t think it could be any better.” “Overall a great job by a dedicated team.” “I have a new appreciation of what Public Works does to make Rolling Meadows a great town.” The refuse collection crew provides information to the Citizens “I was very impressed with the Public Works em- Academy participants about refuse stops and weekly routes. ployees—how they all work together to help each other.” “All took great pride in their work and were obvi- ously happy to be working for Rolling Meadows.” Don’t Judge a Building by its Cover! Next Step and the Future of the Citizens Academy As the Public Works Department began to prepare the 2010 Budget request, one program we felt necessary to include was the Citizens Training Academy. All staff members believe the program is beneficial to the Department. Twin 84’ x 300’ buildings featured on the If funding for the program is approved, the 2010 Academy will include several of the same presentations as the previ- 2009 APWA Des Moines Technical Tour ous two programs.

New items which may be included in the 2010 program would be the following: There is a difference in fabric covered structures. Whether for Water Treatment, Salt Storage, Waste Management or any other • A second Field Day tour to highlight activities such as tree trimming, GIS field investigations, and creek main- use, QUALITY MATTERS! Accu‐Steel is the best choice for the tenance. highest quality fabric structures. • Increase the evening’s sessions from four nights to five Our standard building offers 300% more corrosion resistance nights to increase class member participation in hands- and 23% heavier fabric than our competitors. on activities. We are an American manufacturer, ready to be of service! • Ride-along programs for past program participants who Call or visit our website today for more information. may want to learn even more about public works operations.

At this time our 2010 Academy is tentatively scheduled between March 25 and April 24, 2010. The roster already in- 1‐877‐259‐4274 cludes seven participants and we expect to limit the class to 30 residents again this year. www.ASICoverBuildings.com March 2010 APWA Reporter 21 How to recognize stressed-out employees

Vanessa Conrad Manager of Administration San Francisco PUC Wastewater Enterprise Member, APWA Leadership and Management Committee

As public works agencies come face to face There are many outward signs of stress • Talking and listening to them; with tough economic conditions, it is im- in individuals that are noticeable to • Asking them to describe the three portant to look back and thoughtfully con- managers and supervisors. Look in par- “best” and the three “worst” as- sider what your charge and purpose are for ticular for changes in a person’s mood pects of their job, and whether the community. For many years you have or behavior, such as deteriorating rela- any of these put them under un- been adding more and more “nice” things tionships with colleagues, irritability, comfortable pressure. that really may not contribute to the indecisiveness, absenteeism or reduced health, safety and welfare of the residents performance. Those suffering from You can use the information you col- you serve. Now that you are doing more stress may also smoke or drink alcohol lect to identify common and persistent with less, this series of articles is designed more than usual or even turn to drugs. pressures, and who might be harmed to help you reflect on what should be basic They might also complain about their by them. Several off-the-shelf question- for your efforts and how you may have to health; for example, they may get fre- naires do the same kind of thing. These adjust your thinking to meet your mission. quent headaches. can be helpful but tend to be lengthy Handling work stress among and may not ask the type of questions Possible underlying causes for that are relevant to your organization. employees stress Tailor questions to your specific orga- We are all vulnerable to stress, depend- • Financial difficulties at home; nization. Also, interpreting the finding on the pressure we’re under at ings may require specialist knowledge. Family, personal problems – pend- any given time. Stress may result from • Check with your HR regarding what re- ing divorce, problem-children situ- many factors. In addition to personal sources you have at your disposal. Are problems which can affect employee ations, loss of a loved one; there staffs that can help you with the performance, we now have the eco- • Interaction problems – a boss or interviews? Is there an Employee Assis- nomic factor of companies downsiz- coworker with whom there’s fre- tance Program? Check out all your re- ing or closing down. As an employer, it quent conflict, pressure, harass- sources before meeting with employees is our responsibility to make sure that ment; in order to ascertain whom you may work does not make our employees ill. need once you finish the interviews. Financial instability is a tremendous • Skills not suited for job; in the stress factor creating financial insecuri- wrong position Remember to: ties in an employee whereby the employee feels that they have no control How do I find out if stress • Respect the confidentiality of your over their future, no matter how hard could be a problem for my staff; they work. If you notice that someone organization? • Tell your staff what you plan to do is behaving in a particularly vulnerable First, take informal feedback to get with any information you collect; manner, appearing overly stressed, then some idea of what problems may exist; look at how their work is organized. See for example, see if your staff is disillu- • Involve them, as much as possible, if they are tackling more work than nec- sioned with their work. This may show in subsequent decisions; essary, maybe trying to show their value up as an increase in absenteeism (espe- Involve safety representatives, if in the organization. However, unless an cially frequent short spells of sickness), • you have them, in your plans and employee’s performance appears to be lateness, disciplinary problems or staff decisions; way out of character for them, you can turnover, or a reduction in output or assume that all your employees are ca- quality of product or service. There • When you meet with staff, record pable of withstanding reasonable pres- may, of course, be other reasons for the important findings from your sure from work. these symptoms, but if they could be stress assessment by writing them How do I recognize stress related to stress at work, get your staff down so that you can review them to tell you about it by: among my employees? later when making decisions.

22 APWA Reporter March 2010 Check from time to time to determine bringing these feelings into the causing it before you can start to work the status of the situation. discussion by staying focused on out good strategies for reducing stress. the problem and its resolution This may take some work but the re- What can I do to prevent stress rather than on the individual. sults—a healthier and more productive from becoming a problem? work environment—are well worth the Recognizing that your employees are There’s no single best way of tackling effort. work-related stress. What you do will experiencing some levels of stress is depend on your working practices and the first step in dealing effectively with Vanessa Conrad can be reached at (415) the causes of the problem. Most of the this problem. You need to know what’s 648-6882 or [email protected]. “things to do” boil down to good management. They’re ongoing processes that need to be built into the way your organization is run.

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March 2010 APWA Reporter 23 Haiti Cherie

Thomas G. Frisbie Operations Manager City of Gainesville, Florida Member, APWA International Affairs Committee

Editor’s Note: The following article is from the perspective of history. To counter the power of the military, Duvalier cre- Thomas G. Frisbie, a member of APWA’s International Affairs ated a militia that became known as the tonton makouts, Committee who has lived in Haiti. the boogeymen that Haitian mothers had always threatened miscreant children with. Through corruption and intimida- Haiti Cherie (My Dear Haiti) is a traditional Haitian folk tion, Duvalier eliminated most of his competition. song and, to many people, a second national anthem. Haiti is truly a country that all can love. Haiti’s history has been An estimated 30,000 Haitians were executed for political racked with problems, the recent earthquake an extreme ex- reasons during Duvalier’s term. Duvalier named his son ample. The Haitians are a proud people and, with the help Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc), to follow as President for of others, they will overcome this tragedy. Life. The “boat people” began to flee Haiti. Jean-Claude’s main activities in government were to misappropriate There are many in North America and in the public works funds. African Swine Flu was found in pigs on the island profession who have ties to Haiti whether by ancestry, and all pigs were killed, taking away the livelihood of many friends or activities in Haiti. My ties stem from three years Haitian peasants. Initial reports on the AIDS outbreak incor- as a teenager living in Haiti. I saw the country and met the rectly implied that Haiti might be the source of the virus; people as a resident, not a tourist. I enjoyed the country and this destroyed much of the tourist industry. Baby Doc had loved the people. no interest in governing, and political corruption increased. During my discussions with the local residents, some Hai- Haiti’s political woes grew and the minimal public services tians were quick to point out that troops from Haiti fought continued to deteriorate. Since Baby Doc’s overthrow in in the United States’ Revolutionary War, and many died 1986, Haiti has continued to have problems with finding a near Savannah, Georgia. At that time they were under a true leader. The instability from provisional presidents and French flag. They are also proud of the fact that they were political overthrows has prevented developmental support the second country in the Western Hemisphere to throw off from other nations. colonial rule and gain independence. Haiti was also the first With the subsistence lifestyle of many Haitians, the local independent black republic in the world. This was in 1804, charcoal has been a major cooking fuel. The need for char- when La Republique d’Haiti was born. coal and the increased competition for land as the popu- The Haitians have much to be proud of. There was an extend- lation has grown have resulted in the loss of most of the ed period of strife as the unstable government was headed by Haitian forests. (In the 1920s, 60% of Haiti was forested; it an emperor, then part by a king and part by a president for is now about 2%). Without the forest cover to hold the step life. The strife continued, often stemming from problems be- slopes, the soil cannot absorb the water. This has resulted tween leaders from different racial backgrounds. From 1915 in a loss of groundwater and subjected the country to seri- to 1934 the United States occupied Haiti, mainly in the form ous erosion problems. The intense rainstorms and deluges of the Marine Corps might. While there were many improve- from many hurricanes that have crossed Haiti have caused ments in the infrastructure and economic stability, there was the loss of many lives and the destruction of community no improvement in internal race relations. This was another resources. Reforestation projects have failed to overcome the point of pride among many Haitians; they “kicked the Ma- need for wood resources. rines out.” Yet, as my dad was a Marine officer and advisor to Now the country is in a time of crisis. The disaster is not the Military Academy, I never felt any sense of resentment; political, but caused by nature. Because of the January 12 the Haitian people were open and caring. earthquake, Haiti has lost much of its infrastructure. Roads, Over the next 20 years, Haiti was mainly controlled by the historical and religious buildings, commercial and residen- military. A series of presidents came and went. Conflicts and tial buildings, the dock and public works facilities are gone. political intrigue with the neighboring Dominican Republic Many cultural and historical icons have also been destroyed. caused many deaths. Then in 1957, Francois Duvalier (Papa The immediate need is for food, water and shelter as well as Doc) was elected to office, a dark period in the country’s ongoing medical support. The long-term needs will involve restoring and improving the infrastructure.

24 APWA Reporter March 2010 This is where the public works community can offer its support. There were minor earthquakes while I lived in Haiti THE ROAD TO BOSTON and there will be more. Facilities need to be built to a stan- The 2010 APWA International Public Works Congress dard and protected from potential damage. What we, as pro- & Exposition will take place in Boston, Mass., August fessional public works officials, can best offer the country 15-18. In each issue of the APWA Reporter we’ll high- is a secure infrastructure from which they can develop an light one of Boston’s unique attractions. Boston is a economy. Homes and jobs are what make people feel most great city and our annual conference will be a terrific important, and over the years political corruption has lim- show! ited job opportunities for a majority of Haitian citizens. We cannot control Haitian politics, but we can assure our support is delivered to the citizens who are most in need.

Much of this support is being coordinated by the U.S. State Department, USAID and groups in Canada, but I am hopeful that these organizations will take advantage of the existing networks available through APWA, CPWA, Engineers With- out Borders and similar organizations throughout the world as they identify the most important rebuilding needs. Let’s make sure that we, as an organization and as individuals, look for opportunities to put this proud nation back on its feet. We need to send in the people who can build the roads, waterworks, homes and municipal buildings. We need to send in the people who care.

As the Haitian national anthem, La Dessalinienne, states: “Pour le Pays, Pour la Patrie, Marchons unis.” (“For our For over 130 years, the Swan Boats have been a part of the country, For our forefathers, United let us march.”) Let us Boston experience. As a welcome sign of spring, they grace the unite behind the proud people of Haiti. waters of the Boston Public Garden, the first botanical garden in the United States. Featured in the books Make Way for Ducklings Thomas G. Frisbie is a member of APWA’s International Affairs and The Trumpet of the Swan, the Swan Boats are the only boats of their kind in the world. (Photo Credit: Greater Boston Conven- Committee and a former member of the Membership Committee. tion & Visitors Bureau) He can be reached at (352) 284-1922 or [email protected].

Relief efforts in Haiti

As of the end of January, relief efforts in Haiti remain con- • Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM): centrated on humanitarian aid. While we recognize that http://www.fcm.ca/participation/english/CFEI. many of our members can provide valuable technical as- asp?formAction=Apply&CallID=262 sistance and possess a willingness to travel to Haiti, it is APWA is in contact with the International City/County important that we do not self-deploy. APWA has registered Managers Association (ICMA). Through their contract with the State Department and USAID as a distribution with the United States Southern Command (Department source for information on volunteer opportunities when a of Defense), their working relationship with USAID, and more organized effort becomes available for rebuilding of their membership in the Volunteers for Economic Grown infrastructure in Haiti. Alliance (VEGA), ICMA will be called upon to participate APWA and CPWA members interested in volunteering for in volunteer reconstruction efforts in Haiti. ICMA will a coordinated response on rebuilding Haiti’s devastated provide APWA with information as it is released regarding infrastructure can register their interest and areas of ex- these opportunities. pertise using the following contacts: Staff will continue to monitor communications from the • Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI): State Department and other sources and distribute infor- http://dex.cidi.org/dstechas.aspx mation as it becomes available. Members are also encouraged to check the APWA website for additional links and information.

March 2010 APWA Reporter 25 Planning for organic waste recycling in the Czech Republic

Mark Whitfield Public Works Director Borough of State College, Pennsylvania 2009 Jennings Randolph Fellow Member, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee s an APWA Jennings Randolph Fellow to the Czech Republic, I was quite overwhelmed by the hospitality of the Czech Republic Public Works Association (SDRUŽENÍ VEREJNE PROSPEŠNÝCH SLUŽEB or SVPS) members. They were very proud of their association and were very eager to show their operations and share with me the challenges they are facing as public officials. Ironi- cally, the geographic area, topography and population of the Czech Republic are nearly identical to my own state of Pennsylvania. And the challenges we face as public officials are also very similar.

My sojourn started with fellow AWPA member Bill Bruce from Albany, New York, and Helena Allison from Napa, California, in Vienna, Austria. After meeting at the Vienna airport, we trav- Czech Republic SVPS Public Works Outdoor Equipment Show, Jesenik, CZ eled to Bratislava, Slovakia, where we saw numerous public improvements being carried out in the city they call “Little Vienna.” From cobblestone streets to the refurbishing of the hill- top castle, Bratislava is a jewel of a city that has not only come out of the com- munism era, but has embraced all the elements and requirements needed to aesthetically modernize a city in which capitalism can thrive.

From Bratislava, I travelled by car to the mountain resort town of Jesenik in north-central Czech Republic where the SVPS conference was held. Much of the one-day conference focused on meeting the impending European Union waste directive requiring the separation and recycling of organic waste by 2015, which was the focus of my study. My conference presentation included Hand-sorting of plastics for recycling in Zlin, CZ, public works facility information on what my municipality

26 APWA Reporter March 2010 is doing in terms of waste reduction, and included several projects we are do- Riding the Storm: 2010 INGENIUM ing with organic waste recycling. The presentation was well received in that Conference many municipalities in the Czech Re- public are similar in size to State Col- Ross Vincent lege, Pennsylvania (pop. 39,000) and Chief Executive, INGENIUM many officials could relate the infor- Thames, New Zealand mation to their own municipalities. Member, APWA International Affairs Committee Another presentation was given by Continued strong attendance Jaroslav Vána from Biom Research Insti- through tough times has highlight- tution on methods and promotion of ed the value of the annual INGEN- backyard composting. IUM Conference as the go-to event After the conference, I visited the cities for infrastructure and public asset of Zlin, Velkem Mezirici, Trebon and management in New Zealand. Prague. In Zlin, public works functions 2010 promises to deliver another are completed through contract ser- exciting, enlightening and in- vices with Technické Služby, a private spiring program over 10-12 June, service company under the direction of with topnotch keynote speakers, František Kostelník. Zlin presently col- informative technical tours and lects yard waste and wood waste, and the added bonus of being hosted composts the material at their landfill in Christchurch, renowned as one site at the edge of the city. of New Zealand’s most attractive In Velkem Mezirici, public works func- and cultured cities. tions are completed by city forces un- Technical tour highlights include der the direction of Jaroslav Mynár. a wastewater recycling facility set Mr. Mynár also serves as President of to produce biodiesel from pond SVPS (the Czech Republic Public Works algae, civil works in a historic Association). Velkem Mezirici is pres- business district, an award-win- In the hills near Christchurch ently seeking a grant from the Europe- ning pump station, Canterbury an Union to initiate an organic waste University’s NZi3 Innovation Centre—a hothouse of strategic ICT research collection program that will include to move ideas into industry—and the Southern Hemisphere’s newest airport kitchen waste, as well as garden and control tower at Christchurch International Airport. yard waste. The grant requests approximately $575,000 USD for the purchase World-leading business productivity expert and best-selling author Debbie of collection equipment and contain- Mayo Smith and champion adventure racer Steve Gurney feature in the ers as well as processing and com- speakers’ line-up. posting equipment. If awarded, the program would service organic waste Be inspired by the conference and the setting. Christchurch is the gateway to collection for about 24,000 citizens in New Zealand’s south island and heralded for its beauty, heritage and wealth 32 municipalities. of attractions while INGENIUM’s profile has been steadily rising, with INGE- NIUM members among the ranks of advisors to high-level decision-makers We also met Stanislav Krchnavy, Di- and actively fostering links with related organizations throughout the world. rector of EnviTec Biogas in Velkem Mezirici. EnviTec constructs and oper- Ross Vincent can be reached at [email protected]. ates biogas plants throughout Europe, generally using corn as the fuel, and sells electricity generated to the pow- The Czech Republic’s goal is to reduce one in San Francisco, California. We er grid. EnviTec is also experimenting landfill waste from 1995 levels by 25% have the opportunity to continue to using organic waste from the waste by 2010, 50% by 2013 and 65% by learn from the Czechs as they develop stream as fuel, but quantities and qual- 2020. Public works officials are laying their programs to meet their waste re- the groundwork to achieve these goals duction goals. ity are not reliable. Therefore, adding by supplementing existing recycling organic waste to established systems programs with organic waste recycling. Mark Whitfield can be reached at (814) using corn as the primary fuel is being In the U.S., about 80 organic waste re- 234-7140 or mwhitfield@statecollegepa. investigated. cycling programs exist, with the largest us.

March 2010 APWA Reporter 27 NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS WEEK, MAY 16-22, 2010 Outreach Items for Children P.W. Paws Construction T-shirt PB.A900 (Child size 6-8) JOIN US IN CELEBRATION! PB.A901 (Youth size 10-12) P.W. Paws Plush PB.A902 (Youth size 14-16) PB.A313 • Member $8 /Non $13 Member $12 /Non $17 P.W. Paws Balloons 2010 National Public Works Week P.W.Paws PB.A312 (Package of 12) Construction Hat Members $3 /Non $5 PB.A903 PB.A405 (Package of 100) Poster Now Available! Members $20 /Non $25 Member $2 /Non $3 PB.A406 (Package of 250) This year’s poster is an amazing interpretation of our theme “Public Works: Above, Below, & All Around Members $45 /Non $50 P.W. Paws Sampler Not sold separately. You” by illustrator Harry Campbell. • P.W. Paws Plush • P.W. Paws Pencil • P.W. Paws Balloon P.W. Paws Coloring Book Harry’s distinctive graphic line illustration work can be found in most major publications including The • P.W. Paws Comic Book PB.PAWS1 (Individual Book) • P.W. Paws Coloring Book Member $1 /Non $2 New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, and many others. A graduate of The Maryland Institute • P.W. Paws Stickers (one sheet) PB.PAWS (Package of 25) College of Art where he also has taught, Campbell has received numerous awards from The Society of PB.A347 • Member $10 /Non $15 Member $25 /Non $30 Illustrators, Communication Arts, and American Illustration. P.W. Paws Stickers P.W. Paws Comic Book PB.STIC1 (Individual Sheet) PB.ACPB1 (Individual Book) Member $1 /Non $2 Member $1 /Non $2 PB.ACPB (Package of 25) Member $25 /Non $30 PB.STIC (Package of 25) GET YOURS TODAY! Member $25 /Non $30 P.W. Paws Bobble Head Use the attached order form or buy online at www.apwa.net/bookstore. PB.A400 • Member $12 /Non $17 P.W. Paws Pencil Pouch Size: 9 1/4” x 6” PSTR10.S Unsigned: Members $12 /Non $15 P.W. Paws PB.A832 • Member $1 /Non $2 Children’s T-shirt PSTR10.L Signed by the artist Members: $50 /Non $60 PB.A833 (Package of 25) PW.TEE2 (Child size 2-4) Member $25 /Non $30 Quantity Discounts (unsigned only): PW.TEE6 (Child size 6-8) PW.TEE10 (Youth size 10-12) 1 - 5 $12 6 - 10 $11 P.W. Paws Pencils PW.TEE14 (Youth size 14-16) 11 - 30 $10 31 + $9.50 PB.A324 (Package of 12) Member $12 /Non $17 Member $3 /Non $5 Vintage NPWW Posters are still available. Check online for availability. PB.A402 (Package of 100) Member $20 /Non $25 PB.A403 (Package of 250) Member $45 /Non $50 APWA Navy Cap Not sold separately. The Heart of Every City PB.A623 • Member $10 /Non $15 T-shirt (Heather) PB.A910 (Adult Small) APWA Hat PB.A911 (Adult Medium) PB.AHAT • Member $15 /Non $17 PB.A912 (Adult Large) PB.A913 (Adult X-Large) APWA Multi-Function PB.A914 (Adult XX-Large) Pocket Knife PB.A915 (Adult XXX-Large) PB.A317 • Member $10 /Non $15 The Heart of Every City “I Public Works” T-shirt (White) PB.A856 (Adult Small) Bumper Sticker PB.A857 (Adult Medium) PB.A320 • Member $1 /Non $2 PB.A858 (Adult Large) Fax: (816) 472-1610 • Mail Orders To: APWA • PO Box 802296 • Kansas City, MO • 64180-2296 NPW10RP PB.A859 (Adult X-Large) APWA Flashlight Keychain PB.A860 (Adult XX-Large) PB.A301 • Member $3 /Non $5 Standard S & H Chart Payment Method: Order Number Quantity (q) Price (p) Extension (q x p) PB.A861 (Adult XXX-Large) for a subtotal of: add: ❏ Credit Card: ❏ Check (enclosed) APWA Pen Less than $9...... $5 ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ Always There T-shirt PB.A300 • Member $6 /Non $8 $10 to $39...... $8 MC Visa AmerExp P.O. # ______PB.A600 (Adult Small) $40 to $49...... $9 Credit Card Info: PB.A601 (Adult Medium) $50 to $59...... $10 PB.A602 (Adult Large) APWA Traveler’s Cup Account Number (Visa or Mastercard) $60 to $69...... $11 PB.A603 (Adult X-Large) PB.ACUP • Member $7 /Non $12 ______—______—______—______PB.A604 (Adult XX-Large) $70 to $79...... $12 PB.A605 (Adult XXX-Large) $80 to $89...... $13 Account Number (American Express) APWA Thermos S & H (see chart) $90 to $99...... $14 ______—______—______PB.A322 • Member $15 /Non $20 $100 to $149...... $15 APWA T-shirt Delivery outside of Continental U.S. Expiration Date: __ __ /__ __ PB.A811 (Adult Small) (International, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, contact APWA for additional service charges) $150 + ...... add 10% PB.A417 (Adult Medium) APWA Can Cooler Express Delivery 2-Day (Additional $20) Card Holder’s Name (Please print)______PB.A304 (Adult Large) PB.A319 • Member $1.50 /Non $2.50 PB.A305 (Adult X-Large) Express Delivery Overnight (Additional $50) Signature______PB.A306 (Adult XX-Large) APWA Silver Tumbler Total PB.A307 (Adult XXX-Large) PB.A744 • Member $13 /Non $18 Name (please print) Organization APWA Coffee Mug PB.A318 • Member $6 /Non $11 APWA Member # Shipping Address (No P.O. Boxes)

T-SHIRT PRICING BY SIZE City State/Province Zip/Postal Code Phone S, M, L, XL Member $12 /Non $17 APWA Paper Coffee Cup (Package of 50) For deliveries outside the Continental U.S. include standard shipping and handling from above chart plus you REFUND POLICY: The American Public Works Association strives to provide useful, current information to its XX-Large Member $14 /Non $19 PB.A806 • Member $20 /Non $25 must contact APWA at 1-800-848-APWA, for additional service charges. Expedited service available for $20 for members and customers. If you should have a problem with any item in your order, we encourage you to offer us XXX-Large Member $15 /Non $20 With Plastic Lid: PB.A807 • Member $25 /Non $30 two-day Express Delivery or $50 for Express Delivery Overnight. (Order must be received before 12:00 p.m. Central the opportunity to ensure that you are satisfied. Print products may be returned within 30 days of the invoice date, Standard Time.) Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery on all orders other than expedited service. All funds in U.S. properly packaged and in saleable condition. (Please include a copy of the packing slip or invoice with your return.) dollars. All prices are subject to change without notice. Returns of student and instructor manuals for our training programs will be charged a 25% restocking charge. A full refund will be granted for all other returned print products except for specifically marked packages. Shipping and handling charges are nonrefundable. Photographs, software, CD-ROMs, and videos may not be returned. We appreciate For bulk quantity prices for any items featured in this advertisment, please call 800-848-APWA. your attention to our policy and look forward to providing you quality products and service. NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS WEEK, MAY 16-22, 2010 Outreach Items for Children P.W. Paws Construction T-shirt PB.A900 (Child size 6-8) JOIN US IN CELEBRATION! PB.A901 (Youth size 10-12) P.W. Paws Plush PB.A902 (Youth size 14-16) PB.A313 • Member $8 /Non $13 Member $12 /Non $17 P.W. Paws Balloons 2010 National Public Works Week P.W.Paws PB.A312 (Package of 12) Construction Hat Members $3 /Non $5 PB.A903 PB.A405 (Package of 100) Poster Now Available! Members $20 /Non $25 Member $2 /Non $3 PB.A406 (Package of 250) This year’s poster is an amazing interpretation of our theme “Public Works: Above, Below, & All Around Members $45 /Non $50 P.W. Paws Sampler Not sold separately. You” by illustrator Harry Campbell. • P.W. Paws Plush • P.W. Paws Pencil • P.W. Paws Balloon P.W. Paws Coloring Book Harry’s distinctive graphic line illustration work can be found in most major publications including The • P.W. Paws Comic Book PB.PAWS1 (Individual Book) • P.W. Paws Coloring Book Member $1 /Non $2 New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, and many others. A graduate of The Maryland Institute • P.W. Paws Stickers (one sheet) PB.PAWS (Package of 25) College of Art where he also has taught, Campbell has received numerous awards from The Society of PB.A347 • Member $10 /Non $15 Member $25 /Non $30 Illustrators, Communication Arts, and American Illustration. P.W. Paws Stickers P.W. Paws Comic Book PB.STIC1 (Individual Sheet) PB.ACPB1 (Individual Book) Member $1 /Non $2 Member $1 /Non $2 PB.ACPB (Package of 25) Member $25 /Non $30 PB.STIC (Package of 25) GET YOURS TODAY! Member $25 /Non $30 P.W. Paws Bobble Head Use the attached order form or buy online at www.apwa.net/bookstore. PB.A400 • Member $12 /Non $17 P.W. Paws Pencil Pouch Size: 9 1/4” x 6” PSTR10.S Unsigned: Members $12 /Non $15 P.W. Paws PB.A832 • Member $1 /Non $2 Children’s T-shirt PSTR10.L Signed by the artist Members: $50 /Non $60 PB.A833 (Package of 25) PW.TEE2 (Child size 2-4) Member $25 /Non $30 Quantity Discounts (unsigned only): PW.TEE6 (Child size 6-8) PW.TEE10 (Youth size 10-12) 1 - 5 $12 6 - 10 $11 P.W. Paws Pencils PW.TEE14 (Youth size 14-16) 11 - 30 $10 31 + $9.50 PB.A324 (Package of 12) Member $12 /Non $17 Member $3 /Non $5 Vintage NPWW Posters are still available. Check online for availability. PB.A402 (Package of 100) Member $20 /Non $25 PB.A403 (Package of 250) Member $45 /Non $50 APWA Navy Cap Not sold separately. 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Marc J. Rogoff, Ph.D., Project Director, SCS Engineers, Tampa, Florida, and member, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee; Michelle Mulet Nicholls, Senior Project Professional, SCS Engineers, Long Beach, California; and Raymond J. Dever, P.E., BCEE, Vice President/Office Director, SCS Engineers, Tampa, Florida

ithin the last year, there have been significant changes in the way solid waste is being managed by local government and private contractors. The federal government and a few local solid waste agencies have implemented strategies which appear to have far-ranging implications in terms of overall policies and costs. The purpose of this article is to briefly sum- marize what we believe will be major trends in solid waste management in 2010. Declines in waste tonnages Up until the Great Recession of the past two years, the solid waste industry had been typically considered “recession proof” because solid waste collection and disposal services were needed in good and bad times. However, the recent experiences of 2008-2009 have impacted all facets of the economy and impacted both private and public solid waste agencies. That is, construction 2009 saw many organizations storing collected recyclables wherever they could because of of residential and commercial build- poor overseas markets. ings is down, reducing the volumes offs, delays in landfill expansions, and major ports along the Pacific. Recyclers of construction and demolition debris purchases of new replacement trucks, began scrambling to locate every avail- requiring collection and disposal. With stationary equipment and containers. able space to store baled materials until consumers cutting back on purchases, a buyer could be found or the markets there is less packaging materials depos- Recycling markets recovered. If one positive outcome can ited curbside and in recycling bins. Less One of the biggest stories of 2009 for be gleaned from the current drop in food wastes are being produced since solid waste management was the re- waste tonnages, it is that the amount many people are cutting back on eat- cyclables markets, or lack thereof. In of material available for recycling has ing out in restaurants. Nationwide, the November 2008, recycling markets saw also declined, helping commodity pric- overall trend in waste declines ranges commodity markets hitting rock bot- es somewhat by reducing the stockpiles from as much as 30% in California and tom. Materials that had been selling of material waiting for the economy to about 10 to 15% in the Midwest and for over $100 a ton or greater, such as improve. Mid-Atlantic states. Both public and mixed paper, were selling for less than private agencies are coping with this $20 a ton. The scene appeared bleak As we write about these news stories a trend on their finances by imposing se- as materials, which had once been ex- year later, there are still many opinions rious cost-cutting measures such as lay- ported to Asia, filled up dock space in as to the real reason behind the col-

30 APWA Reporter March 2010 lapse of these markets, which have re- may make it easier to develop facilities beneficial. Additionally, buying recy- covered to some degree. However, one that can handle the various types of cled-content products closes the loop thing is for certain, most recycling pro- municipal solid waste. The majority of and further bolsters recycling com- grams managed by solid waste agencies fiber recycling may stay offshore, since modity markets. or private contractors have been forced the recycled fiberboard is used in the Zero waste initiatives to ask hard questions about the eco- packaging of new products manufac- nomics of these programs. The reality tured overseas; but for domestically- Achieving a “zero waste” community is that such commodity markets have produced items like beverages, locally- is an important goal in many solid historically been volatile, just as much produced containers can be likewise waste management programs. A grow- as the stock market. That is, prices that skyrocket may also come down just as fast. This poses some concerns for operations of municipal recycling programs, which are oftentimes impacted by this volatility. The lessons learned over the past year suggest that communities will need to take a hard look at the collections, processing and marketing for developing long-term contracts.

As source-separated recycling programs continue to gain in popularity and recycling mandates are either established or expanded across the country, there may need to be a change in the way recycling programs are funded so that they can remain financially sustainable despite fluctuations in commodity pricing, and programs can continue without the reliance on a volatile revenue source. That is, we may start to Winkler Canvas is the source for see increases in user fees so that there is less emphasis on commodity pricing your storage and hauling needs with possible revenue sharing between the processor and community. The bal- For over 30 years Winkler Canvas Ltd. has designed and ance between free market (commodity manufactured quality, long-lasting products: pricing) and regulatory (mandatory recycling) forces will continue to be a Winkler Structures uses on average moving target and the industry’s abil- 30% more steel in our buildings and ity to adjust will be crucial to the suc- that’s what makes us more committed to cess of programs going forward. manufacture the best performing structure One possible way to reduce the vola- around today. All our trussed structures tility of global commodity prices is to come pre-engineered and the pipe & bolster domestic recycling infrastruc- ratchet system keep the cover tight and ture. In many instances, recycling tra- virtually maintenance free. ditional (paper, plastic, glass, metals) and special (electronics) wastes cannot Contact us to find a dealer near you! be sufficiently accomplished domesti- 1-800-852-2638 | www.winklercanvas.com cally and so materials need to be ex- [email protected] ported for recycling into new products. There is a need for increased capacity Winkler, Manitoba | Hwy 14 and Green Farm Road to be developed, and new legislation

March 2010 APWA Reporter 31 ing number of communities across the United States are developing plans to reduce overall waste volumes and increase recycling rates. One of the first and most notable communities to implement efforts towards zero waste is San Francisco. The City is now di- verting over 70% of its solid waste from homes and businesses through a variety of programs, including the country’s first and largest urban food scraps composting collection program in the U.S. The program is available to all 335,000 households and is serv- ing over 2,000 businesses citywide. In June 2009, the City passed an ordinance requiring all of San Francisco to separate recyclables, compostables and trash. This new ordinance should help Many zero waste programs include comprehensive large venue or special event recycling and them meet their goal of 75% diversion composting activities. by 2010. In order to meet their goal of particularly those that contain hazard- are self-funded, and that can be truly zero waste to landfill by 2020, howev- ous components. The reasons for these sustainable. er, the City will need to look beyond initiatives, it seems, are threefold: (1) Greenhouse gas regulations traditional disposal technologies. the ballooning of household hazard- It is apparent that reduction of green- Many programs included under zero ous waste (HHW) program costs with house gas (GHG) emissions is becoming waste initiatives have the potential to little funding to support the programs; an increasingly significant issue for solid reduce community-wide greenhouse (2) the ever-expanding list of items re- waste management programs. Whether gas emissions and we anticipate more quiring special handling, usually add- the initiative comes via legislative or emissions inventories will include solid ed to HHW programs by default; and regulatory action, it is clear that re- waste reduction and recycling programs (3) the inclusion of manufacturers in quirements for reduced emissions from as contributing activities to emission re- the management of the products they a greater number of facilities are going duction goals and objectives. produce by requiring the manufacturer to take back their products for proper to be a reality in the very near future. Clearly, the sheer volume of solid waste handling. While the focus of EPR ini- While cap-and-trade legislation has generated by Americans—nearly an es- tiatives has been hazardous substances, been working its way slowly through timated 254 million tons—means that this may extend into traditional mu- Congress and while the recent United zero waste initiatives have a long way nicipal solid waste, thereby commod- Nations summit in Copenhagen pro- to go to increase the overall nationwide itizing them and creating markets for duced little of immediate impact, the levels of source reduction, reuse and re- the recovered items. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cycling of waste and that community- (EPA) has been moving forward aggres- wide efforts like San Francisco’s should The future of special waste materi- sively to promulgate GHG emission reg- be encouraged. However, in the near als will require collaboration between ulations. At the end of 2009, EPA took term, the need for disposal alternatives many stakeholders in order to mini- three actions that have set the stage will continue to serve communities un- mize the impact these items have on for increased regulation of GHG emis- til viable alternatives to landfills exist the environment. An honest commit- sions—promulgation of the mandatory or the need for disposal is reduced. ment from manufacturers, distribu- reporting rule for GHG emissions, the tors, local governments, consumers, endangerment finding for carbon diox- In addition, extended producer respon- recyclers and others, each providing ide (CO2), and the notice of proposed sibility (EPR) initiatives have emerged expertise from its unique perspective, rulemaking for GHG emissions under as a pushback to the notion that lo- will make it possible to develop prod- the Clean Air Act. cal governments should be respon- ucts that are environmentally sound, sible for the management of products that can be easily managed and re- On October 30, 2009, EPA published disposed of in our throwaway society, cycled without special handling, that the final rule for mandatory reporting

32 APWA Reporter March 2010 of greenhouse gas emissions. The rule In the last quarter of 2009, EPA took tons of CO2 equivalent will capture a established reporting requirements for two additional steps toward regula- surprising number of smaller facilities some 31 different sources, including tion of GHG emissions—publication and that implementation of emission municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills of a proposed rule establishing the control technologies will eventually be and waste-to-energy facilities. Under 25,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent required for these facilities. The Solid the final rule, all owners or operators of as the emissions threshold for Title V Waste Association of North America MSW landfills that accepted waste on permitting under the Clean Air Act, (SWANA) has recently submitted com- or after January 1, 1980 and that gener- and announcement of its finding that ments to EPA objecting to the pro- ate GHG emissions in amounts equiv- GHG emissions are a danger to public posed emissions threshold as being too alent to 25,000 metric tons of CO2 health and welfare. These actions have low and as not meeting the intent to equivalent or more per year must sub- sent clear signals that EPA intends to regulate only major sources. Stay tuned mit an annual report to EPA, beginning promulgate GHG emission regulations as this rulemaking moves forward. with an annual report for calendar year under the Clean Air Act, regardless of Experimentation with fuel 2010. According to EPA estimates, over what may happen with respect to legis- mixes 2,500 landfills will be reporting under lation or to international treaties, and the rule. It appears that landfills much that the mandatory GHG reporting Given the uncertainty over the cost smaller than those currently regulated rule has set the stage for those regula- of long-term diesel fuel prices, many under the New Source Performance tions. While EPA is characterizing these communities have explored research Standards of the Clean Air Act will be proposed regulations as only impact- innovations to “green” their refuse captured by the new reporting rule and ing major sources as defined by the collection trucks. For example, some by subsequent regulations that are like- Clean Air Act, we believe that the solid agencies like the New York Sanitation ly to follow. waste industry will find that the annu- Department are currently running al emissions threshold of 25,000 metric their fleet on a five percent biodiesel

March 2010 APWA Reporter 33 (B5) blend, which has enabled them LNG and has constructed 18 refueling Clean Air Act, are expected to reduce to displace roughly about one mil- stations throughout the state. smog and urban air pollution from die- lion gallons of diesel fuel since 2007. sel trucks. These regulations come on Further, this past year saw the an- The Department is also exploring the top of EPA’s air regulations to reduce nouncement of the world’s largest use of a B20 pilot program to further diesel particulate emissions, which landfill gas (LFG) to LNG at Waste reduce potential fuel use in the future. required all new diesel trucks to have Management’s Altamont Landfill in This kind of biodiesel uses a reported diesel particulate filters to help remove Livermore, California. This joint ven- soy-based and ultra-low sulfur diesel and then burn off the uncombusted ture of Waste Management and Linde (ULSD) with less than 15 ppm for the soot that accumulates on these filters, Corporation is being designed to pu- B5 and B20 fuels. either through a fuel-rich cycle during rify and liquefy 13,000 gallons of LNG vehicle operation or during mainte- During the last few years, many solid daily, enabling Waste Management to nance. These advanced engine modi- waste agencies and private haulers reduce greenhouse gas emissions of fications have greatly increased the have demonstrated the feasibility of more than 30,000 tons per year and initial cost of the solid waste collection using compressed natural gas (CNG) help commercialize the use of LFG as vehicles, overall fuel economy, and the and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for a long-term fuel source for refuse col- cost of maintenance. solid waste collection. It is expected lection. that increases in the numbers of these Fuel economy of refuse vehicles has Hybrid collection vehicles fleets will continue unabated. Waste never been good, with averages of Management, the nation’s largest pri- Starting in 2010, heavy-duty engine less than three miles to a gallon com- vate waste hauler, for example, has de- manufacturers will be required to meet monplace in most refuse fleets across new stringent nitrogen oxide (NO ) ployed more than a quarter of its fleet x the country. Given the new EPA air in California to run on either CNG or emissions. These regulations, which emissions requirements noted above, are being imposed by EPA under the

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34 APWA Reporter March 2010 there has been increasing interest in developing hybrid engine technology—whether hydraulic or electric—for refuse collection.

Briefly, hybrid-hydraulic vehicles employ devices that recover heat energy from the brakes, storing it in a hydraulic accumulator. The pressurized fluid is then used by the driver as the vehicle accelerates as well as in stop-and-go duty cycles along the route. Theoreti- cally, this would result in less diesel fuel being consumed, fewer vehicle emissions, and decreased maintenance Innovative technologies have entered the marketplace as the waste-to-energy industry has expenses. seen an upsurge in the U.S. (Photo courtesy of Waste2Energy)

Prototypes of these types of refuse ve- over current traditional refuse collec- metals and slag. There are several pi- hicles are being tested under CalStart’s tion trucks. At the end of each shift, lot facilities, which have been con- Hybrid Truck Users’ Forum, a group the vehicle is plugged into a commer- structed in North America, to test the with the goal of commercializing cial electrical outlet and charges over- technical and financial feasibility of heavy-duty hybrid technologies. In a night. such systems. As we write this article at test in New York City, the hydraulic- the beginning of 2010, there are many Waste-to-energy and regenerative brake (HRB) system is communities which are just beginning alternative thermal treatment powering a Crane Carrier LET2 chas- the procurement process. Not unlike sis and integrates it with a Heil refuse Construction of waste-to-energy (WTE) the experiences of the early efforts body hydraulic system. In Los Ange- plants hit their peak in the United with conventional WTE technologies les, several American LaFrance Condor States in the early 1990s with some 85 in the early 1990s, these projects will, LNG trucks in the City’s refuse fleet are plants in operation today. However, in our opinion, undergo detailed feasi- being evaluated using onboard vehicle until the last few years, no new WTE bility evaluations to assess the efficacy data acquisition systems to monitor ve- plants were constructed in the United of their manufacturers’ claims on solid hicles’ operating conditions. States. The WTE industry was impacted waste throughput, energy conversion significantly in our country by contro- efficiency, and overall financial viabil- There is also significant activity in ap- versy over waste flow control, Not-In- ity. Time will tell which technologies plying hybrid-electric technology in My-Backyard (NIMBY) siting issues, will be able to meet these tests. refuse collection. The most prominent and changes in tax law, to mention of these is being tested by Volvo in a few. While construction essentially Conclusion Sweden, Paris and London. The City of stopped in the United States, however, From the trends identified, a systems- Fresno, California, is currently testing such plants continued to be construct- wide approach to solid waste man- a plug-in hybrid prototype by Volvo, ed in Europe and Asia where they have agement will be necessary. A cohesive which is powered by electricity for the increased these nations’ renewable en- approach that includes collection, op- main engine and CNG to run all of the ergy supplies. erations, materials and processing, in- lift hydraulics. The hybrid technol- frastructure, and reporting will ensure Within the last few years, there has ogy consists of a 320-horsepower die- that solid waste programs remain sus- been a rebirth of interest in WTE in the sel engine, which shuts down at rest, tainable for years to come. combined with an electric motor that United States. Several large WTE facili- powers the truck at speeds up to 12 ties have either been expanded or an- Dr. Marc J. Rogoff can be reached at (813) miles per hour. Regenerative braking is nounced plans to add additional com- 621-0080 or [email protected]; used as a means of recapturing energy bustion capacity. There also has been Michelle Mulet Nicholls can be reached to recharge the lithium ion batteries. increasing interest in alternative, cut- at (562) 426-9544 or mnicholls@scsen- Besides being much quieter in early ting-edge technologies such as plasma gineers.com; and Raymond J. Dever can morning trash pickup duties, the total arc gasification and anaerobic diges- be reached at (813) 621-0080 or rdever@ tion to reuse solid waste by converting scsengineers.com. gas savings and CO2 emissions have shown to date to drop 20 to 30 percent it into energy and recycling valuable

March 2010 APWA Reporter 35 Greenhouse gas impacts of solid waste management

Rick Person, member, Board of Directors, Eureka Recycling, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and member, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee; Susan Hubbard, President, Eureka Recycling, Minneapolis, Minnesota

n the aftermath of the Copenhagen air windrows or enclosed vessels proof recyclables are thrown away in Min- Climate Conference last December duces very little methane, only com- nesota at a cost of $312,000,000. we will hear more and more about post used to enrich soils. Most of what is still disposed every CO and greenhouse gas (GHG) re- 2 Beginning January 1, 2010, landfills day in Minnesota can be recycled and duction. Solid waste management, and waste-to-energy facilities covered composted with enhancements to recycling and composting are signifi- by EPA’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas current collection and processing sys- cant activities of the majority of public Reporting Rule are required to monitor tems. Managing wastes higher on the works departments throughout North their GHG emissions if above 25,000 hierarchy costs less per ton of material America. One area generally over- tons of CO e annually. Failure to com- processed and creates more green jobs. looked in climate change discussions 2 ply with the rules could result in penal- Recycling is today a $220,000,000 in- is the impacts of solid waste manage- ties up to $37,500 per day per violation. dustry in Minnesota. ment on GHG emissions, particularly Municipalities and waste companies from recycling and composting. When we recycle we avoid GHG emis- will not be required to report indirect sions from landfills and incinerators. The U.S. Environmental Protection emissions from electricity use or fleets, Every product we use has embedded Agency (EPA) reports that greenhouse but will not be able to lower emission energy, the energy it takes to extract, gas emissions from incinerators and totals by accounting for such offsets. transport and transform materials landfills account for 3% of total GHG The U.S. Senate Energy Jobs and Ameri- needed to produce a product. For an emissions in the U.S. The impacts of not can Power Act would require EPA to es- aluminum can the energy savings are recycling or composting solid waste are tablish a program for states to optimize 90-97%; 30% less energy to make a actually much higher, when accounting reductions of GHG emissions through glass bottle from recycled glass; and pa- for all the various connections among recycling. Funds would be distributed per results in 44% energy savings (Cho- wastes generated from multiple sectors, to county and municipal programs, ate, 2005). About 94% of materials including mining, deforestation, agri- recycling and manufacturing facilities. extracted for manufacturing become culture, manufacturing, transportation Localities must have a curbside collec- waste before any product is manufac- and electric generation. tion program, a drop-off program or a tured, and 80% is thrown away within On average, waste incinerators emit materials recycling facility. If passed, six months. more CO2 per megawatt-hour pro- this program would have a direct bene- duced than coal, natural gas or oil-fired fit for many public works departments. power plants (Hartwell, 2007). Com- The Minnesota Legislature adopted the postable materials decomposing in waste management hierarchy back in landfills produce methane, which has 1980: source reduction first, then re- at least 21 times greater GHG impacts cycling, organics management, waste- than carbon dioxide depending on the to-energy, and land disposal as a last time frame. For example, over a 20- resort. Yet, according to the Minnesota year time frame, methane is 71 times Pollution Control Agency, 3.6 million as potent as GHG, not just the 21 times tons of municipal solid wastes were over a 100-year time frame used in buried in landfills or incinerated in EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (WARM) Workers on Eureka Recycling sort line Minnesota in 2006, while 2.5 million default assumptions (Platt et al., 2008). tons were captured for recycling, a 41% The Minnesota Climate Change Advi- According to WARM, the U.S. average recycling rate matched by only a hand- sory Group has submitted its climate methane capture rate from landfills is ful of states. Each year 1.3 million tons change mitigation plan to the Gover- 20-44%. Aerobic composting in open-

36 APWA Reporter March 2010 nor and Legislature. Goals set for waste City of Minneapolis also has plans to educated people about composting in reduction are 50% recycling and 10% add organics to their curbside program. various settings and with vendors to composting statewide by 2012, and ensure successful composting. The Zero Eureka Recycling calculates that GHG 60% recycling and 15% composting by Waste Events program has composted reductions from recycling 20,000+ tons 2025. The 2012 goals will require cap- over 9.28 tons and reduced greenhouse per year collected curbside in Saint turing 40% of the additional recyclables gas emissions by 17.48 metric tons, the Paul are 100 times greater than emis- in trash along with 50% of composta- same as taking 3.3 cars off of the road sions from collecting and processing bles. A zero-waste scenario—100% re- for a year. the recyclables. See the full report— cycling and 100% composting—would “Recycling, Composting and Green- Recycling is regularly called upon to result in an overall 88% diversion rate. house Gas Reduction”—at the Eureka help build national policy around poly- The remaining 12% would need to be website. The Saint Paul recycling pro- lactic acid (PLA) containers. Though source-reduced or products redesigned gram is reducing CO emissions 35,763 derived from renewable corn and po- to be recyclable or compostable. 2 metric tons per year, equivalent to the tatoes, thereby replacing petroleum- Since 2001, Eureka Recycling has total energy use of 8,963 homes. based plastic packaging and helping to worked to address the challenge of facilitate composting of packaged food, compostables (food scraps and paper these containers also cause serious con- that is not recyclable) going to waste-to- tamination problems in the recycling energy facilities and landfills. However, stream. there are significant obstacles to in- Eureka Recycling is working with 20 creased composting in Minnesota, due Twin Cities restaurants to turn food to language in state law that is unclear waste into compost. Participating res- about the definitions of mixed waste taurants are reducing trash by up to composting, organics composting and 80%, see http://www.makedirtnot- source-separated composting. Rulemak- waste.org/. Eureka has expanded its ing is currently underway, and could backyard composting and vermiculture either remove or create more barriers to workshops so that more organic mate- establishment of adequate composting rial is managed at the source at homes processing capacity in Minnesota. and businesses. Over 5,000 backyard As a result of the Saint Paul Environmen- Corncob recycling at Minnesota State Fair compost bins have been distributed to tal Roundtable convened by Eureka in As one move to boost recycling and Saint Paul residents. The commercial 2005 (see report at Eureka http://www. composting, Minnesota Waste Wise composting program has composted eurekarecycling.org/), the Saint Paul and Eureka Recycling collected 4,900 over 546 tons and reduced greenhouse City Council adopted the goal of being tons of food waste at the Minnesota gas emissions by 987 metric tons. a zero waste city by 2020. Eureka also State Fair last year, including 120,000 Finally, Eureka is launching a new proj- has an online resource for zero waste or- corncobs, trucked the waste to a com- ect this March in one Saint Paul neigh- dinances. Eureka is continuing to work posting facility, then returned it to the borhood with its partners High Winds, with Saint Paul, Minneapolis and others fairgrounds as compost to enrich soils The Green Institute, the University of to achieve the zero-waste scenario. on gardens and lawns. The State Fair Minnesota and others. Intensive com- is also home to the “Eco-Experience” The City of Saint Paul and Eureka posting in the demonstration area will with 350,000 visitors in 2009. switched to weekly two-stream col- identify best opportunities for a zero lection in 2004, increasing tonnage Eureka has teamed up with Minnesota emissions organics program, by mea- 13.4%. All material is processed at Energy Challenge (http://www.mnen- suring the cost, convenience and envi- Eureka’s 60,000-ton-per-year materi- ergychallenge.org/) to help promote ronmental benefits of various preven- als processing facility (MRF), which recycling and composting as easy ways tion, onsite management, collection installed optical glass sorting technol- for families, businesses, congregations, and processing options. ogy in 2007. They are planning to add schools, neighborhoods, etc. through- Rick Person can be reached at 2persons@ clean organics to the curbside collec- out Minnesota to calculate and signifi- comcast.net; Susan Hubbard can be tion program, the culmination of a 10- cantly reduce their GHG emissions. reached at (651) 222-7678 or susanh@ year effort amongst Saint Paul, Eureka Throughout its eight years of provid- eurekarecycling.org. Recycling and their partners to achieve ing event recycling services, Eureka has a 75% residential recycling rate. The

March 2010 APWA Reporter 37 Pay-As-You-Throw – Now: Increase recycling and decrease greenhouse gases quickly, fairly and cost-effectively Lisa A. Skumatz, Ph.D., Principal, Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Inc. (SERA), Superior, Colorado, and Principal, Econservation Institute; Marc J. Rogoff, Ph.D., Project Director, SCS Engineers, Tampa, Florida, and member, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee

Overview PAYT (also called variable rates, volume-based rates, user Pay-As-You-Throw, commonly called PAYT, is a solid waste pay, and other similar names) provides a different way to bill rate strategy that charges households a higher bill for put- for solid waste collection service. Instead of paying a fixed ting out more trash for collection. Sounds fair—fee for ser- bill for unlimited collection, these systems require house- vice, just as households are charged a higher bill for using holds to pay more if they put out more garbage—usually more water, electricity, etc. More than 7,000 (25%)1 of com- measured either by the can or bag of garbage. Paying by vol- munities in the U.S. agree and use some form of PAYT, in- ume provides households with an incentive to recycle more cluding 30% of the largest cities. Figure 1 shows the distribu- and reduce disposal. 2 tion of communities with access to PAYT across the U.S. The Communities have been implementing PAYT trash rate in- figure shows PAYT programs are most common in the West centives in earnest since the late 1980s. The programs can Coast, Midwest and Northeast. provide a cost-effective method of reducing landfill disposal, increasing recycling and improving equity, among other effects. Experience in these 7,000 communities, which are distributed all across North America, shows these systems work very well in a variety of situations. Examples of each of these are available in many states.

• Private haulers, multiple haulers, or municipal collection • Manual or automated collection trucks • Wheelie or other types of containers • Urban, suburban, small/rural, and isolated communities • Set up by ordinance, by contract, or municipally-run How PAYT works The most common types of PAYT systems are:

• Variable can or subscribed can programs ask households Figure 1: Distribution of Communities with Access to PAYT across the U.S. (Source: SERA, 2006) to sign up for a specific number of containers (or size of wheelie container) as their usual garbage service level, For a number of years, the U.S. Environmental Protection and get a bill that is higher for bigger disposal volumes. Agency (EPA) at the national level has promoted PAYT, and This is a common choice in areas with fully-automated currently EPA Region 9 is funding a nonprofit (Econserva- trucks using lifting arms. Wheelie containers are also tion Institute) to provide free nationwide PAYT webinars common in states with wildlife issues. to help communities across the country learn about PAYT. • Bag or sticker/tag programs require households to buy Dubbed “PAYT-Now,” the program has a dedicated website specially-marked bags for trash; the bag price includes (www.paytnow.org) with PAYT resources available to com- the cost of collection and disposal. Bags are usually sold 3 munities everywhere. at convenience and grocery stores in addition to municipal outlets. Other programs require households to buy 1 Skumatz, Lisa A., and Juri Freeman, “PAYT: 2006 Update,” for US EPA and special tags or stickers to place on bags or cans; pricing SERA, Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Superior, Colo. is similar to the bag option. 2 Skumatz, Lisa A., Ph.D., “Pay as you throw in the US: Implementation, impacts and experience,” Waste Management (2008), Elselvier journal, • A hybrid program uses the basic system—households doi:10.1016. keep paying a bill they’ve always paid (to the city or

3 Everywhere literally—the last Econservation/EPA webinar had registrants hauler), but instead of covering the cost of “all” or un- from Croatia, Ireland, Bahrain, Mexico, UK, as well as communities across limited amounts of trash, it only covers 30 or 60 gal- North America. lons. To get more service, special bags or stickers must

38 APWA Reporter March 2010 be purchased (as above). This system combines existing requirements are commonly involved in invoking this programs and new incentives, and minimized billing option. However, this can be a revenue source for com- and collection changes. Again, wheelies can be used for munities, either through hauler/franchising or other the base service (addressing possible animal issues). fees, or, if a city opts to bill for the service, they may potentially charge rates that cover both the contractor • Some rural communities have drop-off programs, where and additional recycling programs and efforts. customers pay by the bag or weight at transfer stations using fees, bags, stickers or pre-paid punch cards. Some • Municipalization: If a community already provides haulers also offer PAYT as an option, or customers may service directly (or opts to go in that direction), imple- choose unlimited service for a fixed fee. menting PAYT is quite straightforward. Although some regions of the country have traditionally PAYT impacts lagged in PAYT, interest in recent years is increasing. A few PAYT increases recycling and decreases landfilled tons, ex- implementations show the practical nature of the program tending the life of the landfill and saving real dollars being and the potential for residents to make a positive change. set aside for landfill closure. And the “upstream” economic For example, adoption by several communities in Colorado and emissions benefits are many times more valuable. SERA (along with a series of dedicated workshops) is gaining the studies of hundreds of communities with PAYT shows that interest of other communities. A few states in the southeast residential trash going to the landfill decreases by 16-17 per- U.S. have been adopting aggressive diversion goals, and are cent,5 recycling rates double, and yard waste composting looking at PAYT as a critical component of the next genera- and source reduction (careful purchasing, charitable dona- tion of programs. It isn’t just the “usual suspects” anymore. tions, etc.) also increase dramatically—and these are impacts There are three key methods for implementing PAYT, and attributable purely to the PAYT change, separate from other with political will behind it, the speed with which it can be auxiliary changes that a community may also implement si- implemented is rather astonishing at the community level. multaneously. A statistical analysis of the performance from Of course, the authorities and rules vary in different states, more than 20 changes communities can make to increase but the following summarizes the key options. recycling and diversion shows that PAYT is the single most effective—and most cost-effective—strategy a community • Ordinance: A community passes an ordinance speci- can implement toward that goal.6 fying that any hauler operating in the community (or county) must use a PAYT system for residences.4 While Two-thirds of communities putting PAYT in place state that rates cannot be specified, rate structures can. The best their near-term costs and workloads stayed the same or de- PAYT ordinances include: a requirement for haulers to creased; these surveys in Wisconsin and Iowa found all the provide curbside recycling service (with the ordinance communities expected long-term savings from PAYT.7 specifying minimum recycling materials, contain- After PAYT programs are in place, more than 90 percent ers and frequency); PAYT rates that cover the costs of of households say they prefer the new, fairer system to both trash and embedded recycling costs; small trash paying the same as households that overstuffed multiple container option; PAYT rates that have significant price cans. The option for cheaper service is very well received differentials between service levels (the www.paytnow. by those on fixed or low incomes, who could ill afford org website has detailed advice on these issues); and re- to subsidize big disposers! Large disposers pay more, but porting/auditing requirements. This is a fairly easy op- have the same options to recycle more and reduce their tion because it does not “take” business from haulers, bills as other households. offers a business opportunity to collectors (recycling for all, not just some or none), maintains competition, and Many communities are establishing greenhouse gas and can be implemented quickly with minimal hassle for sustainability goals. Analysis shows that the PAYT programs the community. currently in place in the U.S. are leading to reductions of 2.1-3.8 million metric tons of carbon equivalents (MTCE) • Contract, Districting, Franchising: An RFP or

other service document can be issued, soliciting service 5 Lisa A. Skumatz, Ph.D., “Source Reduction can be Measured,” Resource providers interested in providing service in a geograph- Recycling, 8/2000 ic area, with PAYT (and the types of options above) as 6 “Beyond Case Studies: Quantitative effects of recycling and variable rates part of the contract. This provides communities with programs,” Resource Recycling, September 1996; Skumatz, Lisa A., Ph.D., more control and possibly lowers rates if economies of “Achieving 50% in California: Analysis of Recycling, Diversion, and Cost- scale are not in effect in a community, but can be more Effectiveness,” Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Inc., prepared for California Chapters of SWANA, April 1999 (summarized in 3-part series, politically tricky because it “takes” business from some Resource Recycling, October–December 1999). haulers. Of course, some advance notification and other 7 Jeff Geerts, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, interview with Lisa 4 Skumatz notes there have been commercial and multifamily systems as Skumatz. well, but they are less common.

March 2010 APWA Reporter 39 annually.8 In addition, according to a recent study, PAYT The majority of communities see no cost increase from these programs are less expensive per MTCE reduced than many programs. However, there may be short-term increase in commercial and residential energy efficiency (EE) and re- calls to municipal staff (about 6-10 weeks). There can also newables programs.9 Figure 2 illustrates that to get the same be implementation considerations, like barriers in finding MTCE reduction obtained from spending $1 on PAYT, would funds to purchase containers. As stated earlier, the majority require about $3 in investment on a commercial lighting of communities see no long-term increase, and some, even retrofit program, about $9 on residential weatherization long-term savings. And the great part of a PAYT program is programs.10 that the costs are paid by users—the City doesn’t have significant ongoing unfunded costs. The same study shows that PAYT is faster to implement, results in less “out of pocket” cost for cities (because users The programs work best when the City or haulers increase the recycling options available, possibly offering a combi- pay), and the cities have more authority to implement PAYT nation of services: expended drop-sites; curbside recycling and recycling strategies than many strategies in energy con- (with the cost of the recycling program embedded in the servation and transportation.11 SERA found that one com- PAYT program costs for all residents); composting training; munity attributed 40% of the progress they had made in the information on reducing junk mail; and other diversion in- first five years of a diversified sustainability portfolio to their formation. Working with the residents is better than chal- solid waste programs, especially PAYT. lenging them to reduce trash but not providing reasonable There are some concerns, however, including illegal dump- and visible options. ing, equity and cost. Increases in illegal dumping have only The most important aspects to getting a PAYT program in been perceived in about 20% of communities implementing place are twofold and relatively simple: PAYT, but this problem only lasts about three months. Most communities use fines and visible enforcement as well as • Education is critical. Residents need to understand special (convenient) options for bulky wastes (big bundles, why you are adopting the program and how they can sofas, appliances, etc.) for a removal fee or on a schedule. make it work for them. Information for new residents will be needed over time.

• Political will. By far the most important element is political will, not any kind of technical program associated with PAYT. Other issues can be resolved quite easily if there is political will. Getting PAYT passed is the hard part; households resoundingly prefer the system after the fact, according to all available research.

Whether or not PAYT ends up being the answer for your community, either via ordinance, contract/districting/franchising, city service, or other method, the evidence indicates Figure 2: Relative Costs to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, by it is probably worth discussion by a citizen advisory group, Program Type Normalized to PAYT=$1. (Source: SERA, 2009) staff, council or committees. Given the pressures from the As long as the new situation creates a “level playing field,” economy, interest in green strategies, and EPA/Econserva- whether by ordinance requiring PAYT for all operators, or tion’s free assistance, now may be the opportune time! widely advertised RFP process, the equity concern is met. Lisa Skumatz, Ph.D., can be reached at (303) 494-1178 or sku- PAYT systems can operate with one hauler, multiple haulers, [email protected]; Marc J. Rogoff, Ph.D., can be reached at or other organizations. (813) 621-0080 or [email protected].

8 Skumatz, Lisa A., and Juri Freeman, “PAYT: 2006 Update,” for US EPA and For more free PAYT information, tools, fact sheets, talking points, SERA, Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Superior, Colo., December upcoming webinars, etc., visit www.paytnow.org or www.paytinfo. 2006. org or contact Dr. Skumatz at the phone number or e-mail address 9 Skumatz, Lisa A., “Recycling and Climate Change,” Resource Recycling, listed above. 10/2008; Skumatz, Lisa A., Ph.D., “Recycling and Climate Change: Finding the ‘Biggest Bang’ Community Strategy for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emis- APWA offered a webinar last year on PAYT. Dr. Skumatz, one sions,” Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Inc., Superior, Colo., April of the authors and Principal of the research and consulting 2007, revised 8/2009. firm Skumatz Economic Research Associates (and the nonprofit 10 The research shows even higher investments are needed to get the same Econservation Institute), conducted that webinar. For more than MTCE reductions from wind and solar energy. 20 years, SERA has assisted communities, counties and states 11 Skumatz, Lisa A., “Do Energy Efficiency Strategies Outperform Recycling with planning and implementing PAYT and a wide variety of in GHG Mitigation and Job Creation?”, Proceedings of the IEPEC Confer- practical solid waste programs based on cost-effective, high- ence, Portland, Ore., August 2009. The report recommends diversified performance strategies and analysis from around globe. investment in both energy and solid waste programs, and notes that solid waste programs are a strong “bridge” to slower ramp-up energy programs.

40 APWA Reporter March 2010 Recycling and recovery of waste: a worldwide issue

Martin V. Melosi, Ph.D. Director of the Center for Public History University of Houston Houston, Texas Editor, Public Works History nly in the last several years has recycling emerged In East Asia and the Pacific, formal and informal source as an alternative disposal strategy to landfilling and separation and recycling programs are practiced. The high- incineration, particularly in the United States. Once est degree of waste reduction takes place in the thriving ur- regarded as a grassroots method of source reduction ban areas of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and Hong and a protest against over-consumption in a “throw-away Kong. There also are waste recovery programs and recycling society,” recycling hit its “takeoff stage” in the 1980s as a efforts sponsored by cities and national ministries in the disposal method in its own right. Before 1980 fewer than People’s Republic of China and Vietnam. 140 communities in the United States had door-to-door Informal waste picking is still widespread throughout the recycling collection service; in 2000 the number exceeded world, particularly in developing countries. In several loca- 7,000. The Province of Ontario initiated its first curbside tions, such as in South and West Asia and Africa, there are program in 1983, and by 1987 at least 41 communities had informal networks of pickers, buyers, traders and recyclers such programs in Canada. in place of formal public systems or private companies. Ma- A major goal of many communities and the nation in gen- terials recovery has become a necessity in areas of poorly eral is to increase the recycling rate, which stood at only 10 paid or unemployed people and in areas where resources are percent in the late 1980s. The EPA’s 1988 draft report on scarce. In industrialized areas, materials recovery is an at- solid waste called for a national recycling goal of 25 percent tempt to lessen the wastefulness of growing economies and by 1992. In the late 1990s, the EPA raised the goal to at least reduce environmental costs. 35 percent of MSW by 2005. The actual rate of recycling in The waste problem is a part of life—ancient and modern. the late 1990s was about 20 to 25 percent in North America. Strides have been made throughout the world to confront The U.S. experience with recycling, while vastly changed from the complex problems of waste generation, collection, dis- years past, falls short of efforts in other parts of the industri- posal and materials recovery. Finding a way to manage solid alized world. Germany and Denmark, in particular, have ag- waste in order to preserve resources and minimize pollution gressive recycling policies, with Denmark recycling about 65 is a constant challenge. percent of its waste. A unique aspect of recovery of materials Martin V. Melosi is Distinguished University Professor of History in Western Europe is the pervasive idea of “producer responsi- and Director of the Center for Public History at the University of bility” for proper disposal of packaging and other products. In Houston, Past President of the Public Works Historical Society, some Western European countries packaging reduction goals and currently editor of the PWHS newsletter, Public Works His- were set at 75 percent for 2002. Recycling and recovery in tory; he can be reached at [email protected]. southern and eastern Europe and in other parts of the world is more uneven. Throughout Latin America and the Carib- bean materials recovery is extensive with recycling programs in all large cities and most moderate-sized communities. In Join Public Works Historical Society! smaller towns and rural areas, where much of the waste is or- Help preserve and promote the rich history of public ganic, composting is the only form of recovery in use. By con- works. Collaborate with fellow public works historians, trast, backyard composting is more widespread in Australia, practicioners and educators. Japan, and New Zealand. In Asia a large portion of household organic waste is fed to animals. The large composting plants Join online at www.apwa.net that were so prevalent throughout developing countries in $35 US / $37 CN Asia—including those pioneered in India—are out of use or not working at full capacity.

March 2010 APWA Reporter 41 APWA on pharmaceuticals: It’s time for producer responsibility

Ziad Y. Mazboudi, P.E., LEED AP, CPSWQ, CPESC, Senior Civil Engineer/Environmental Division Manager, City of San Juan Capistrano, California, and member, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee; Heidi Sanborn, Executive Director, California Product Stewardship Council, Sacramento, California

s we are well aware, pharmaceuticals are ending up of medicines in them, can be mixed with other do- everywhere—in our water, our seafood, and in the mestic waste and finish in household rubbish or the ground, and there is much more to learn about the drains, contaminating our environment. full impacts of pharmaceuticals escaping into the The report goes on to say that the public is embracing the environment. program and each year they see an increase in pharmaceu- While we continue to document what changes are occur- ticals collected from 2.5 to 4.8 kg/1000 persons per month ring in the environment and with human health due to ex- between 2003-2007. But that is only half the story. Imple- posures from waste pharmaceuticals, we should also work menting an EPR system, where the industry has a financial towards implementing solutions to prevent unnecessary feedback mechanism because they are required to take the exposure. The saying that an ounce of prevention is worth packaging back, gave them an incentive to reduce packag- a pound of cure may prove to be very true with pharmaceu- ing and resulted in the laboratories implementing 144 pre- ticals. vention measures affecting 26.6 million packages which reduced their weight and volume while ensuring that mate- While we have not yet identified how to control the phar- rials chosen for the packages were the most environmentally maceuticals that enter our environment from normal use, friendly. we can work now to control exposure due to “waste” pharmaceuticals. While local, state and even congressional com- Canada mittees in the U.S. discuss what to do, other countries have In the province of British Columbia, the Mediations Return already implemented a preventive policy measure called Program is operated by the Post Consumer Pharmaceutical Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), also known as Stewardship Association (PCPSA) created in 1999 to man- Product Stewardship, to ensure that a collection infrastruc- age safe disposal of unused or expired medications returned ture is funded and managed by the corporations that created from the public. The PCPSA provides the pharmaceutical and profited from the sale of those drugs: the pharmaceuti- and consumer health products industries with a collective cal industry. This concept can be applied to various types of means of adhering to the requirements of the British Colum- waste, not just pharmaceuticals. bia Recycling Regulation. The PCPSA is funded by approximately 95 pharmaceutical companies and brandowners and In fact, many companies that sell pharmaceuticals in the has a twelve-member board. In 2008, they had pharmaceuti- U.S. also sell into other countries such as Australia, Canada, cal collections in 95 percent of licensed pharmacies in the Portugal and Spain which have implemented pharmaceuti- province which equates to 942 pharmacies. The PCPSA is cal take-back programs, some for over a decade. responsible for the campaign to maximize public awareness Spain of the program as well as for providing annual reports to the provincial government on the program statistics. The pub- The pharmaceutical industry in Spain complied with the Eu- lic simply returns unused drugs to a participating pharmacy ropean Union Packaging Directive by starting a nonprofit and the container and drugs are collected; the containers called SIGRE in 2002 to establish and operate the collection are recycled if possible and the drugs are incinerated at high of packaging of pharmaceuticals and the unused pharma- temperature. Collections increased from 23,384 kg in 2007 ceuticals in them. This quote is taken from page 55 of SIG- to 35,704 kg in 2008. In 2008, the entire program only cost RE’s 2007 Annual Report: $315,000 Canadian dollars within the province that has 10 SIGRE is the system of selective collection set up by million people. pharmaceutical laboratories to allow citizens to dispose of out-of-date or non-used medicines they have Support for an EPR solution at home. This avoids that packaging, or the remains These examples of good stewardship by pharmaceutical

42 APWA Reporter March 2010 companies and brandowners are gaining attention in the you can check them out at http://www.apwa.net/Advocacy/ U.S. In fact, the National Association of Counties adopted positions.asp. a resolution in support of an EPR solution for pharmaceuti- Ziad Y. Mazboudi is a member of APWA’s Solid Waste Manage- cals in July 2009; and on November 14, 2009, the National ment Commitee; he can be reached at (949) 234-4413 or zmaz- League of Cities adopted a resolution in support of prin- [email protected]. Heidi Sanborn is the national ciples of product stewardship which support internalizing Outreach Director for the Product Policy Institute; she can be cost of end-of-life in the product price and having the solu- reached at (916) 480-9010 or [email protected] tion designed and managed by the producers. Additionally, . thanks to the support, advice and coordination of the Product Policy Insti- tute, there are now five Product Stew- ardship Councils in the U.S. including California and Texas which would be supportive of such efforts. Local governments across the country are trying Register today! to tackle the problem by starting their own collection programs, funded by the taxpayers and ratepayers, but these programs are at risk of losing funding as local governments continue to see funds drop. June 8-10, 2010 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Hilton Minneapolis Hotel APWA’s Solid Waste Management Committee sponsored an advocacy position statement on the safe disposal Register Today! of pharmaceutical waste that was sup- Register now for the most important sustainability event ported by the Water Resources Man- of 2010. The Second Annual APWA Sustainability in Public Works agement Committee for the Board of Conference is designed to explore and promote the evolving role of Directors to adopt. This is planned to public works professionals in the creation of sustainable communities. take place later in the year. • Learn what sustainability really means to public works and what Conclusion you can do right now For pharmaceuticals and many waste • Access tools, resources, and experts you need to take sustainability products, it is time for us to change to the next level in your community the paradigm and implement product stewardship policies. These poli- • Network with other public works professionals at the forefront of cies have worked for over 10 years in sustainability other countries and are seeing success • Hear success stories and explore best management practices that and reducing potential damage caused you can apply immediately by improperly managed pharmaceu- • Explore the new exhibit floor ticals. The public wants to have convenient collection available to them, Engage in discussions with public works experts, hear the success stories we want to provide it, and it is time and challenges faced by other communities and agencies in their efforts for the pharmaceutical industry to to become more sustainable, and discover the leading-edge products step up and help as they have proven and services being featured by our exhibitors. Benefit your community by they can do it cost-effectively in other joining APWA’s brightest leaders and innovators for an inside view of the countries. You can work in your area sustainability revolution in public works. with your legislators to inform them that you support such a position for future legislation. If you are interested Register online at www.apwa.net/sustainability in reading about APWA’s advocacy position on this matter or other matters,

March 2010 APWA Reporter 43 Automated waste collection: how to make sure it makes sense for your community

Marc J. Rogoff, Ph.D., Project Director, SCS Engineers, Tampa, Florida, and member, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee; Donald Ross, Senior Consultant, Kessler Consulting, Inc., Tampa, Florida; Richard E. Lilyquist, P.E., Director of Public Works, and Jeffrey Wood, Manager of Solid Waste, City of Lakeland, Florida

How did automated collection get started? the entire route; the need for additional manual labor is The evolution of solid waste collection vehicles has been eliminated. The savings in personnel and workers’ compen- historically driven by an overwhelming desire by solid waste sation costs, as well as the increase in crew productivity for professionals to collect more waste for less money, as well automated collection, are well documented throughout the as lessening the physical demands on sanitation workers. solid waste industry. Evolving from horse-drawn carriages and human-powered Currently, the Waste Equipment Technology Association carts to motor-operated vehicles, collection equipment has (WASTEC) estimates that there are roughly about 120,000 sol- been modernized, but it was not until the 1960s that solid id waste vehicles on the road in the United States, and about waste collection took a monumental leap in technology to 15% of all new waste collection vehicles purchased in 2003 improve overall efficiency. (the most recent statistics available) were automated. This During this era, public works departments in communities trend is rapidly increasing as many agencies and private haul- in mostly western states, which were experiencing rapid ers shift to automation in an attempt to minimize increasing customer growth in suburbia in the post-World War II pe- insurance costs and more effectively control their cost of la- riod, were exploring the concept of improving their labor bor, while at the same time provide increased customer ser- productivity with their oftentimes limited resources. It is vice levels and opportunities for an aging workforce. important to point out that these cities and agencies were Advantages of automation less constrained by formal labor agreements, which were Some of the general advantages of automated collection of- more typical of their larger sister communities in the East ten touted by its proponents include the following: and Midwest. Consequently, they began to explore ways of moving in the direction of improved vehicle automation as For residents a substitute for labor to lift, tip and empty garbage containers that were placed curbside. • Convenient and easy method for residents to dispose of trash. Automated side-load trucks were first implemented in the • Wheeled containers are easier, more maneuverable, and City of Phoenix in the 1970s with the aim of ending the safer for residents because there is no carrying or lifting backbreaking nature of residential solid waste collection, of heavy trash cans. and to minimize worker injuries. Since then, thousands of public agencies and private haulers have moved from the • The capacity of most cans provided in these programs is once-traditional rear-load method of waste collection to one equal to three or four regular trash cans. that also provides the customer with a variety of choices in • The containers keep rodents and pets out of trash given standardized, rollout carts. These automated programs have the tight lids. enabled communities throughout the country to significantly reduce worker compensation claims and minimize • Helps to eliminate “over service,” as carts have a finite insurance expenses, while at the same time offer opportuni- capacity as compared to manual bag programs. ties to workers who are not selected for their work assign- • Containers are provided by and maintained by the comment based solely on physical skills. munity or hauler. Modern application of automation • Cleaner, healthier neighborhoods with no litter on In an automated collection system, residents are provided streets after pickup. a standardized container into which they place their waste. For the municipality Residents must place their cart at the curb on collection day. During collection, the driver positions the collection vehicle • Improved collection efficiency and reduced costs. beside the cart. Using controls inside the cab of the vehicle, • Reduced employee injuries. the driver maneuvers a side-mounted arm to pick up the container and dump its contents into the vehicle. The driver • Lower turnover rate and increased productivity due to then uses the arm to return the container to its original loca- less time missed by injured employees. tion. Automated collection allows for the driver to service • Reduced Worker’s Compensation claims and insurance

44 APWA Reporter March 2010 premiums. tem (Pay-As-You-Throw or PAYT) where residents pay only for the service they need. Tailoring the size of the cart to the • Reduced rodent problems. amount of garbage produced and charging a higher cost for • Cleaner, healthier neighborhoods with no litter on larger garbage cart sizes encourages residents to recycle and streets after pickup. reduce the amount of waste disposed. • Volume based containerized system helps limit overages. Environmental and aesthetic benefits. The use of Improving safety and reducing work injuries. Solid standardized containers for automated collection has prov- waste collection workers are highly exposed to health and en to result in a number of clear environmental benefits. environmental safety risks due to exposure to heavy work- The rolling carts are more resistant to animals, thus reduc- loads, volatile compounds, and potentially hazardous or ing unsightly blowing litter and strewn garbage, and they even infectious materials. Typical rear-load operations re- replace unsightly setouts with a single uniform container quire manually lifting materials into the collection vehicles. over an entire community. The carts are designed with Statistics from such programs suggest that collection crews closed lids which help to reduce odors and keep water out, lift, on average, over six tons (13,000 lbs.) per worker per reducing leakage from trucks and water weight at landfills. day. In general, this heavy, repetitive, manual lifting com- Automated yard trash collection programs also eliminate the bined with an aging workforce tends to generate an increas- need for residents to use plastic bags which end up in the ing number of injured staff. landfill and reduce the quality and usability of mulch products, while providing residents with a convenient wheeled A fully-automated collection program enhances worker cart to collect debris while landscaping. safety and comfort and minimizes manual lifting and exposure to possible hazards in the waste such as sharp objects. Fully-automated collection eliminates heavy lifting, walking between setouts, and frequent steps on and off the truck. The mechanical arms on modern, fully-automated trucks are typically operated by the driver using a joystick control. Rather than slogging through rain and high-temperature environments, operators of automated refuse collection systems spend their shifts in climate-controlled comfort. The reduced physical requirement increases the diversity and longevity of the workforce that is able to collect waste. Au- tomated collection has proven to significantly reduce collection worker injuries resulting in reduced workers’ compensation costs, decreased disability claims, decreases in the number and cost of light-duty assignments, and reductions in the salary fringe benefit costs in the future. Use of closed, wheeled containers with automated collection pro- Automated collection programs are designed for right-side vides cleaner neighborhoods with no litter on streets after pickup. only collection routing. Similar to mail carrier routes, ve- (Photo: Donald Ross) hicles are forced to collect along the curb line making right- hand only turns during its collection route. This right-hand Enhanced level of service. Automated solid waste collec- only routing scheme enhances safety, reduces the number of tion is considered a higher level of service (versus manual unprotected left-hand intersection turns, and eliminates the collection) for residents. For most residents, wheeled carts unsafe practices of zigzagging and double-sided collection are easier to move and set out than cans and bags that must commonly seen in rear-load collection systems. be lifted. The wheeled containers are extremely durable, often lasting ten years or more, and are convenient to use as Enabling variable rate structures. Under the tradition- residents no longer need to buy replacement garbage cans or al manual collection system, customers in most communi- plastic yard trimmings bags. In most cases, carts are owned ties are typically allocated a basic service level of two cans and maintained by the jurisdiction or servicing hauler. for garbage collected twice weekly. Those homeowners that are ardent recyclers and who reduce waste and regularly set Disadvantages of automated collection out less than two full cans of garbage oftentimes do not see programs any savings as they pay the same as those residents that use The primary disadvantage of automated collection is the two full cans. initial cost of purchasing specialized vehicles and providing Most communities have found that implementation of au- carts to homeowners. On average, the capital cost of an automated collection provides an opportunity to supply their tomated side-load vehicle is 20 percent more than that of customers with varied container sizes and thereby move a manual rear-load vehicle. Additionally, the useful life of closer to a true utility-like user pay for garbage disposal sys- an automated vehicle is often less than a rear-load vehicle. Cart costs generally average between $35 and $50 each de-

March 2010 APWA Reporter 45 pending on container size. Additional general disadvantages Type of Injury Number of Claims Total Compensation ($) include the following:

• Automated vehicles require more maintenance than Back/Neck 388 139,124 traditional rear-load vehicles and require specialized training of technicians. Eyes 60 4,474 Fall or Thrown 90 21,695 • Homeowners must be educated on where to place bins from Vehicle and what kinds of trash can be collected. Bulky items that do not fit in the cart usually require a separate Groin 33 27,136 collection. Overloaded containers or waste left on the Hopper 8 614 ground can impact the productivity of collection. Or- Insect Bite 51 5,042 dinances prohibiting waste left on the ground should be developed, while additional containers or additional Knee/Ankle/Leg 1,316 828,673 bag fees can help cover or discourage the practice. Laceration or Stab 67 8,825 • Some cities have chosen to automate yard waste collec- Miscellaneous 126 22,756 tion as part of a transition to automation; however, the Shoulder 323 120,951 size and volume of yard waste makes it less conducive to cart programs, and typically requires separate collection Toes/Foot 29 2,523 with different vehicle types (claw-type trucks or rear- Wrist/Elbow/Arm 148 23,544 load units). In order to effectively automate yard waste Total 2,639 1,205,356 collection, yard waste size limits must be enforced and Table 1. Workers’ Compensation Claims for Solid Waste Operations, alternate methods developed to collect larger, bulk de- City of Lakeland, Florida, 2005-2009 bris items. Some jurisdictions have instituted a volume- based fee for yard waste that exceeds a predefined limit, A pro forma model was constructed to help estimate the making the system conducive to automation. projected costs to the City to implement an automated solid waste collection program. The model estimated the finan- • Automated collection does not work in densely popu- cial impact of implementing an automated collection pro- lated areas with on-street parking on collection days. gram that included once-weekly collection of 95-gallon con- However, on-street parking does not prevent a cart- tainers and once-weekly collection of yard waste using the based approach to collection. A hybrid system can be existing rear-load system. The model did not include costs employed in these cases where carts are collected in a associated with the collection of curbside recyclables, as revenues are separate from garbage and yard waste collection. semi-automated fashion and many cart system benefits can still be enjoyed. Model assumptions Case study to analyze implementation The following assumptions were utilized to construct the feasibility Lakeland model. Although the reader’s mileage may vary, each of these items is important to consider when consider- Last year, the City of Lakeland, Florida, studied the feasibil- ing a conversion to automation: ity of converting to an automated collection program for single-family, residential customers. Residential garbage • Forty-three thousand residential customers. collection for some 43,000 accounts is currently performed • Ninety homes-per-hour rate of production. Although twice weekly with two separate route structures (Monday/ higher production rates can be achieved with automa- Thursday and Tuesday/Friday). Utilizing rear-load compac- tion (up to 120 homes per hour), the City should not tion vehicles, 15 trucks are deployed on the Monday/Thurs- expect to reach higher levels until system is fully imple- day routes, and 14 trucks are deployed on the Tuesday/Fri- mented, staff is fully trained, and education and out- day routes. Three-man crews are utilized on each of these reach programs have demonstrated effective results. routes including one driver and two loader collectors. Data • Four-day work week (garbage). indicated that setouts on the lead or first day of collection • Four-day work week (yard waste). average about 80 percent, while the average setout rates on the trail or second day of collection is 58 percent. • Yard waste production estimates based on the City’s current actual experience. Insurance claims. With manual collection, workers’ • Labor cost assumptions based on the median of salary compensation claims had escalated over the past five years ranges as provided by City, escalated 3% for 2010 CPI. (Table 1) with the most significant claims dealing with knee/ ankle/wrist and back injuries. • Benefit costs calculated at 35% of total salaries. • Fuel usage was based on per unit FY 2009 budget estimates. Fuel costs based on Energy Information Admin-

46 APWA Reporter March 2010 istration (EIA) average for low sulfur diesel for previous immediately passed through to residents. The project also il- two years. lustrated that the current cost to operate is currently higher than monthly residential fees charged ($15.75), and that the • Three-person yard waste routes (one driver, two crew). residential system is being subsidized by the City’s commer- • Model does not consider revenues from sale of surplus cial collection system. equipment (can be factored into new purchases; City estimates a 40 percent residual value). Following meetings with City staff, the first model was further adjusted to account for no reduction in administrative • Vehicle spare (backup) ratios calculated at 15%. costs using a current residential system allocation amount • Manpower backup ratio calculated based on City-pro- provided by the Department of $1,749,784. Applying this vided time off (vacation and sick time) benefits. allocation method, the City can conservatively reduce the • Automated containers are depreciated for 10 years (co- monthly per-household cost by an estimated $1.73 per inciding with factory-backed warranty of 10 years). month. The majority of these savings can be seen in the personnel expense category, as the FTE headcount is reduced • Spare ratios for carts calculated at 5% for spares and re- by approximately 20. This change to automated collection placements. is projected to result in a cumulative first year savings for the • Self-insurance cost reduction estimated at 30% of cur- Department as a whole of $774,326 in 2009 dollars. These rent City experience. Rear-load collection exposure is total savings will not be fully recognized until the entire sys- projected to remain at 20% to account for continued tem has been converted to full automation. manual yard waste collection. Implementation issues Projected results Phased-in approach. Implementing an automated collec- The team was asked to conduct a financial analysis of the tion program should preferably be in a series of steps. Imple- residential solid waste and yard waste system. To conduct mentation should be done in a phased-in approach, adding this analysis, administrative costs (approximately $3.2 mil- subdivisions and areas of the city to the program over time. lion), those that are considered part of the entire depart- In most cases, implementation begins with a pilot program ment, needed to be allocated to the residential services where a small consolidated sector of the city is converted portion of the system in order to recognize a true cost of to the new system. This sector size is based roughly on the operations. The residential administrative allocations collection capacity of one vehicle (900–1200 households), ($1,582,231) include the current costs experienced by the and is typically an active community with a high level of City and were allocated by a variety of methods including residents involved in the local community. Homeowner as- number of trucks, staffing, and percent of revenue, depend- sociation meetings, mailings and promotional activities are ing on the cost category. A minimum of 30 percent savings conducted three to six months in advance in order to brief in the self-insurance fund was estimated to occur in the first the residents on the program, and feedback is solicited from year of automation. Similar systems have recognized greater the residents during the process in order to help anticipate than 50 percent in some cases. Figure 1 illustrates that with future questions. Once the pilot community is active with the assumptions in place, the City can reduce overall oper- the new system for at least three months, planning can be- ating expenses by converting to automated collection. The gin on a full-scale, phased-in implementation. The benefits monthly per-household cost can potentially be reduced by to a phased-in approach include: $1,220,862, an estimated $2.06 per month from the current FY 2009 cost of $15.82. However, it is up to the City’s elected • Acclimating residents to the program organically and officials to determine if the savings should be used to sta- not concurrently – except for the first city area to be bilize utility rates in future years, or if the savings can be converted, other residents will be exposed to ongoing education and outreach programs about the new sys- Factors Current Program Automated Program tem and will have an understanding of the program when their neighborhood is ready for conversion. Also, Staffing 64 35 a phased-in approach will allow the City to adjust pro- Vehicles 26 24-22 gram education based on initial feedback from the pilot Collection Frequency 2 X Week 1 X Week program residents.

1 2 Cost ($/month/home) $15.82 $14.32-$13.45 • Provides an opportunity for better capital manage- Potential System Savings $774,326-$1,220,862 ment – a phased-in approach to citywide conversion allows for the phased-in purchase of new collection ve- Figure 1. Estimated Financial Results, City of Lakeland, Florida hicles, rather than purchasing all at the same time. As 1 Cost to operate is currently higher than monthly residential fee vehicles age, the cost to repair increases, and at some ($15.75). Residential rates are currently subsidized by commer- future point, all vehicles again have to be replaced. In cial collection system. a phased-in approach, new vehicles can be purchased a few at a time each year, maintaining an average age 2 Projected rates (first year to full implementation) of fleet of three to four years, while at the same time

March 2010 APWA Reporter 47 maintaining a predictable level of variable maintenance Manpower expenses. As staffing and personnel costs represent the • Today there is a choice in automated collection vehi- largest portion of savings cles, and a phased-in approach allows the City the op- in an automated conver- portunity to test and experiment with different units sion, there are a number on a smaller scale, rather than an initial commitment of issues that should be to one style, make or model. The industry is working to addressed by the City dur- develop options to address the higher operating costs ing the planning phase. of automation while still maintaining the gains in ef- In Lakeland’s case, an au- ficiencies. These new technologies should be examined The City of Lakeland currently tomated conversion was through pilot scenarios to maximize the cost savings provides residential service with a estimated to reduce the benefit on automation. traditional manual collection pro- Division staffing levels by gram using three-man crews. • A significant portion of program capital and the sys- up to 20 positions, most of tem’s most noticeable feature are the containers. Carts which are solid waste collectors. can be purchased or leased from container manufactur- In our experiences with similar municipal programs, auto- ers that can also provide the maintenance services re- mation provides significant opportunities for current solid quired. Each supplier offers a different level of specifica- waste employees to cross-train and advance in the Division. tions that should be considered, including subsequent Further, automation preserves the City’s aging workforce by repair and maintenance. reducing physical labor requirements for waste collection. Although most cart suppliers offer a ten-year warran- Nonetheless, these new collection vehicles will have new ty on manufacturer defects, all cart systems require a technology requiring specialized training for technicians in level of service to deliver, remove, and regularly repair the Fleet Management Division. Although this can present carts that become damaged during day-to-day opera- a challenge, it also can provide opportunities for current tions. In many cases, containers can be procured with Fleet Division employees to cross-train and advance in the and without a service maintenance program. If the cart department with advanced technical certifications. company is not conducting the service, City staff will be required to maintain the cart system, and once fully Deploying the new automated program in a phased-in implemented will require full-time staffing. When pro- approach will allow the City to plan for staff reductions curing containers, the City should consider requests for through attrition; in this way, retiring employees, or those pricing that include both cart purchases and a separate lost through normal attrition, are not replaced with tempo- price for cart maintenance services in order to properly rary staffing until which time the conversion to automation evaluate the cost associated with this service. Addition- reduces staffing permanently. Although this sounds daunt- ally, today’s economic climate has resulted in very low ing, normal turnover in solid waste hauling operations can interest rates that the City could leverage when making range between 10 and 20 percent annually. new equipment and container purchases. Current status • Conversions should begin in newly-planned subdivi- The findings of the feasibility study along with survey re- sions. Newly-planned subdivisions are designed with sults of other Florida local government rates for automated adequate turning radii and street width, and sufficient collection were presented to the City Commission in No- amounts of off-street parking, which are conducive to vember 2009. City staff is currently developing a public automated collection systems. Conversions in these education program and corresponding citizen survey of the newer neighborhoods can occur quickly such that: proposed conversion to automated collection. A summary report to include the citizen survey results is expected to o Adding contiguous subdivisions (of acceptable be presented to the City Commission in late spring, 2010. route size) to the first area maintains route density, Pending approval by the City Commission at such time to enhances production, and assists with planning proceed with the procurement of the automated vehicles new equipment purchases. and carts, the initial phase of implementation could roll out in fall, 2010. The City expects to phase-in the conversion Equipment is purchased in stages as new areas are o program over a four-year period of time to take advantage of developed. staff attrition, to minimize staffing issues, and to gain experience with specific service issues. o Education programs are introduced three to six months in advance of equipment delivery, and can Dr. Marc. J. Rogoff can be reached at (813) 621-0080 or mrogoff@ be accelerated as a greater percentage of the City is scsengineers.com; Donald Ross can be reached at (813) 971-8333 or converted. [email protected]; Richard E. Lilyquist can be reached at (863) 834-3300 or [email protected]; and Jeffrey Wood Older neighborhoods are added to the program last. o can be reached at (941) 499-6040 or [email protected].

48 APWA Reporter March 2010 Trends in solid waste: Florida considering 75% recycling target

Keith A. Howard, P.E. Deputy Director Lee County Solid Waste Division Fort Myers, Florida Chair, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee n 2008, the Florida Legislature included several solid • Education for the public waste-related items in an energy bill, specifically HB • Financial assistance opportunities 7135. This bill included four items related to solid waste management: • Evaluation of shortcomings of previous efforts

• Encourage cooperation between counties to capture The DEP held several workshops to solicit comment from and utilize landfill gas public and private stakeholders. These included representa- • Require the Department of Environmental Protection tives from county solid waste departments, beverage con- (DEP) to develop a program to increase recycling, es- tainer representatives, landfill operators, environmental tablish a goal and present this to the legislature for con- groups and politicians. After the first two workshops, the sideration (submitted to legislature January 4, 2010, see DEP published a draft plan for submission to the legisla- detailed description below) ture. During the first two workshops, the DEP made a con- certed effort to examine the past, look at what has worked • Evaluate the need for regulation of disposable plastic and what has not, and open up the discussion. The State of bags Florida enacted their Solid Waste Act in 1988. In that Act, • Require counties to establish a goal for composting of they prescribed a county-by-county recycling goal of 30% organic materials by 1994.

Although these items are equally important, the recycling In 1993, the state required all recovered materials dealers to program and goal-setting items are of particular interest as report tonnages to the state. they represent what many communities and states are currently considering. Whether defined as “zero waste” or oth- In 1996, they amended this goal to be required only for er moniker, states and communities are looking for ways to counties with a population greater than 75,000. This was reduce waste and hopefully reduce operating expenses as tax again updated in 2002 to 100,000. dollars become stretched. In 1997, the DEP started an Innovative Recycling and Waste The bill specified 75% by 2020 as a goal for recycling in an Reduction Grant program to encourage innovative strate- effort to reduce the amount of recyclables entering landfills. gies for recycling and waste reduction with an emphasis on The selection of 75% is somewhat obscure as there is no real repeatability in other counties. information to support this number, but one could surmise Another aspect of evaluating the progress to date was to look an acceptance of some level of disposal necessary to encour- at the accounting methods for recycling. Ask any recycling age aggressive recycling and waste reduction. Some key cri- coordinator about how much their community recycles teria were included in the bill: and state that someone in another state does more and you will get some cross looks. One of the biggest problems with • Waste used in the production of renewable energy (i.e., waste-to-energy) counts towards the goal. discussing recycling on a national stage is that every state counts their numbers differently. Some items are considered • The program must include environmentally preferable recycling, some diversion and some in a grey area. For exam- purchasing practices ple and consideration, the following items are not allowed in the Florida calculation: • Programs to educate K-12 students • Automobiles • Programs for municipalities and counties to assist in reaching the goal • Residual Screening Material (RSM) or fines from construction and demolition recycling facilities used as an • Programs for which the DEP can provide technical support Alternate Daily Cover (ADC) at landfills

March 2010 APWA Reporter 49 • Clean concrete used as clean fill for land reclamation from this waste stream was anticipated to account for 10% of the goal. Principal comments related to C&D included • Anything that goes back into a landfill used as a con- requiring all C&D to be routed through a Material Recycling struction material to offset soil and aggregate use, such Facility (MRF) prior to any disposal and creating allowances as mixed broken glass, shredded tires, and auto fluff for use of residual screened material as credit towards recy- • Materials used for compost are considered diversion and cling. The current system does not recognize the conserva- do not count as MSW nor counted for recycling calculation of soil resources when this material is used as landfill tion cover. RSM can also successfully be used in nonstructural fill applications. • Mulch for energy and incineration in a WTE plant for energy does not count as recycling, but used at a bio- Residential/Multi-Family Recycling Programs. Resi- mass facility for energy does count dential was the first target in many communities establishing a recycling program. Stakeholders recommended Public Comment investments in Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) programs and As mentioned above, the DEP solicited comments from sev- Recyclebank as methods to increase recycling. Multifam- eral public workshops as well as an online forum. The online ily properties are handled differently across communities forum provided a space for comments on each portion of the and present challenges due to space restrictions as well as program and allowed the general public to place comments. whether local codes consider these dwellings commercial What was unique in this approach was that all comments properties or residential. Comments were split in support were available for review by other posters. What became of a statewide bottle bill. Environmental groups favored this clear in these online posts as well as the workshops were the action while industry representatives, specifically the con- various stakeholders, their positions, and their perspective. tainer industry, opposed. Although this may be nothing new to anyone who has dealt with the legislative process, it was interesting to see what the Business Recycling. Similar to construction and demoli- comments were and what made it into the final DEP report. tion debris, business waste represents a significant portion of Below is a listing of the target areas of the DEP program and the waste generated in the state. Most comments regarding how comments progressed through the process. businesses acknowledged their responsibility to participate in recycling. Concerns revolved around mandates to require Waste-To-Energy. The original legislation indicated that recycling. Many comments included support for the devel- material processed through a WTE plant would count to- opment of markets for recyclable products. wards the recycling effort as the energy produced, as recognized under Florida rules, is renewable. Of course, resul- Education. In general, most participants indicated that tant ash that is disposed would count against this recycling schools should be a target area for increased education as effort. Typical plant production is on the order of 25% re- well as participation in recycling programs. sidual so that plant operation would garner a community Miscellaneous Comments. The DEP indicated that they an approximately 75% rate for all materials processed. This stand behind the use of the word “recycling” and did not number would vary dependent on the metals recovery sys- intend to shift towards “diversion” as an alternate approach. tems (ferrous and non-ferrous) at each facility. Most participants opposed the proposal by DEP for a dis- The DEP indicated that inclusion of this provision would posal surcharge to fund programs. The common theme was help realize 12% of the 75% goal for the state. There are 10 the concern that collected funds would not be directed to plants operating in Florida that process about 3.8 million recycling but rather support state general fund shortages. tons of waste per year (2007). Organics should play a role in meeting recycling goals. This Comments in this category fell into three slots: the first was helped by recent adoption of revised solid waste com- from WTE industry folks and other integrated waste man- posting rules which are intended to make composting of agement professionals that agreed with the direction; the food waste more practical. second from environmental groups that called for elimina- tion of the credit; and the third called for inclusion but a Government should lead by example at all government fa- reduced impact based on establishing processing criteria or cilities. a cap on the percentage allowed. The Result Construction and Demolition Debris. Construction In January, the DEP presented their proposal to the legisla- and demolition debris represent upwards of 30% of the ture. The document presented their outline for Florida to waste generated in the state. Active recovery of material reach a goal of 75% recycling by 2020. The plan included

50 APWA Reporter March 2010 the following primary provisions: • Create a business assistance center that would promote markets for recyclable materials. • The state should lead by reemphasizing preferable purchase of recycled content materials and require recy- • Create a recycling grant or loan program for local gov- cling in all state facilities. ernments to provide assistance for both operational and infrastructure funding. • Increase recycling education in K-12 classes including new emphasis on organics and direct all school districts • Examine funding opportunities through disposal fees, to implement recycling programs. increased waste tire fees, bottle bill revenues, unclaimed C&D compliance deposits, and incandescent and high- • Require all C&D to be processed at an MRF prior to dis- mercury fluorescent bulb fees. posal. It is uncertain whether the legislature will act on these rec- • Find ways to stimulate organic recycling; this includes ommendations or not when they enter their upcoming ses- composting as well as other recycled organics technolo- sion. The state of the economy with budget shortfalls at the gies. state and local levels may prevent its adoption. Even with- • Require counties with populations greater than 100,000 out adoption, the DEP and the waste and recycling manage- and cities with populations greater than 50,000 to enact ment professionals of the state have considered many op- mandatory business recycling ordinances. portunities, opened the dialogue amongst stakeholders and created a framework to increase future recycling in the state. • Encourage the use of innovative recycling programs such as PAYT, Recyclebank, Zero Waste Zones (con- Keith Howard chairs APWA’s Solid Waste Management Technical centrated business/entertainment districts), and Single Committee. He can be reached at (239) 338-3302 or khoward@ Stream Recycling programs. leegov.com.

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March 2010 APWA Reporter 51 Disposal solutions for compact fluorescent lamps and batteries

Ziad Y. Mazboudi, P.E., LEED AP, CPSWQ, CPESC, Senior Civil Engineer/Environmental Division Man- ager, City of San Juan Capistrano, California, and member, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee; John Burnett, President, Mercury Disposal Systems, Tustin, California

What is banned from trash? Mercury-added novelties. Examples include greeting California law prohibits these items from being discarded cards that play music when opened; athletic shoes (made as trash: before 1997) with flashing lights in soles; and mercury maze games. Lights, Batteries and Electronics Environmental hazards of batteries • Fluorescent lamps and tubes. Includes fluorescent People are using more and more household batteries. The tubes, compact fluorescent lamps, metal halide lamps, average person owns about two button batteries, ten normal and sodium vapor lamps. (A, AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, etc.) batteries, and throws out about • Batteries. Includes all batteries, AAA, AA, C, D, button eight household batteries per year. About three billion bat- cell, 9-volt, and all others, both rechargeable and single teries are sold annually in the U.S. averaging about 32 per use. Also lead-acid batteries such as car batteries. family or ten per person. • Computer and television monitors. Most moni- Batteries may contain cadmium, mercury, copper, zinc, lead, tors are currently considered hazardous waste when manganese, nickel, and lithium which may create a hazard they have lived their life and are ready for recycling or when disposed incorrectly. disposal, including cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crys- tal diode (LCD), and plasma monitors. Batteries may produce the following potential problems or hazards: • Electronic devices. Includes computers, printers, VCRs, cell phones, telephones, radios, and microwave • Pollute the lakes and streams as the metals vaporize into ovens. the air when burned.

Mercury-containing Items • Contribute to heavy metals that potentially may leach from solid waste landfills. • Electrical switches and relays. These typically con- • Expose the environment and water to lead and acid. tain about 3.5 grams of mercury each. Mercury switches can be found in some chest freezers, pre-1972 washing • Contain strong corrosive acids. machines, sump pumps, electric space heaters, clothes • May cause burns or danger to eyes and skin. irons, silent light switches, automobile hood and trunk lights, and ABS brakes. In landfills, heavy metals have the potential to leach slowly into soil, groundwater or surface water. Dry cell batteries • Thermostats that contain mercury. There is mer- contribute about 88 percent of the total mercury and 50 per- cury inside the sealed glass “tilt switch” of the old-style cent of the cadmium in the municipal solid waste stream. thermostats (not the newer electronic kind). In the past, batteries accounted for nearly half of the mer- • Pilot light sensors. Mercury-containing switches are cury used in the United States and over half of the mercury found in some gas appliances such as stoves, ovens, and cadmium in the municipal solid waste stream. When clothes dryers, water heaters, furnaces, and space heaters. burned, some heavy metals such as mercury may vaporize and escape into the air, and cadmium and lead may end up • Mercury gauges. Some gauges, such as barometers, in the ash. manometers, blood pressure, and vacuum gauges contain mercury. Types and uses of household batteries There are two types of batteries: single-use and rechargeable. • Mercury thermometers. Mercury thermometers Single-use batteries include alkaline/manganese (cassette typically contain about a half gram of mercury. Many players, radios and appliances), carbon-zinc (flashlights, health clinics, pharmacies and doctors’ offices have toys, etc.), mercuric-oxide (hearing aids, pacemakers, camer- thermometer exchange programs that will give you a as, calculators, watches, etc.), zinc-air (hearing aids, pagers), new mercury-free fever thermometer in exchange for silver-oxide (hearing aids, watches, cameras, calculators), your old one. and other types of button batteries. Rechargeable batteries

52 APWA Reporter March 2010 include lead-acid (camcorders, computers, portable radios that needed to be resolved before rolling out a large-scale and tape players, cellular phones, lawn mower starters, etc.) energy solution. and nickel-cadmium (cameras, rechargeable appliances such as portable power tools, hand-held vacuums, etc.). Mercury exposure threatens human health and safety Fluorescent lamps and compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) contain mercury and are regulated as a hazardous waste at the federal and state levels. When lamps are broken during handling and storage, they release mercury into the room and put your employees and your company at risk. Accord- ing to a California Department of Environmental Protection study, when even a single green-tipped, low-mercury lamp is broken, the resulting level of mercury in the air exceeds Batteries and CFL recycling bags occupational-exposure limits. The effects of mercury exposure may not be immediate. Chronic, low-level exposure to Working with Mercury Disposal Solu- mercury can affect human health for years or even generations (MDS) provided a solution. MDS tions later. According to the EPA, one in six children born in would roll out a CFL collection program the U.S. could be at risk for development disorders because that would include bags available at of mercury exposure in the mother’s womb. stores selling CFLs for the public to use for disposal. The bags are sealed after the Mercury and its risks CFL is placed in them. There would not Mercury exposure poses a real threat to human health and be a cost to the consumer and, by edu- the environment. While Americans have successfully low- cating the public on the danger of mer- ered their exposure to such bio-toxins as lead, pesticides cury, there would be an interest for self- and tobacco over the past few years, the risks of mercury protection in the use of the bags. This Recycling kiosks exposure are just coming to public attention. We have been solution was great but required funding exposed to mercury through fish consumption, and poten- that the City is short on. The City approached our energy tially hazardous products such as thermometers, batteries company that was very interested in energy reduction and and fluorescent lamps are a normal part of our everyday life. was willing to pay for the cost of collection. In order to make These sources all contribute to chronic low-level exposure to the program effective, the City discussed the program with a pervasive bio-toxin that, like lead, pesticides, or tobacco, neighboring cities that were very interested in participating. can ruin our health. Recent studies have linked mercury So, a regional program was rolled out for collection of CFLs exposure to increased risk of heart attack in men, to men- at stores throughout South Orange County. In addition, tal retardation and neurological disorders in children, and MDS collects batteries. So, a battery collection program was to dangerous levels of mercury in the blood of women of rolled out and collection locations were developed at local child-bearing age. Spent fluorescent lamps must be properly markets, city halls and community centers. MDS has a simi- handled and stored to limit mercury exposure. lar program in twelve counties throughout California.

Energy-efficient fluorescent lamps can contribute to a clean- Another program that was rolled out last year was in part- er environment, but they must be managed properly. Be- nership with the schools in Tustin, where kids were provided cause it is very likely that discarded fluorescent bulbs will with bags for their home. The bags were of different sizes to be broken during conventional waste handling, there is a accommodate different sizes of fluorescent lamps and CFLs, concern that occupational exposures to workers handling and batteries. The bags can be dropped at any of the loca- waste materials may occur. tions that are partners in the program.

Managing the environmental program for the City of San This program was rolled out with much public education Juan Capistrano presented opportunities as the division and outreach, including free CFL giveaway, battery chargers manager was able to see the big picture, sometimes missed and rechargeable batteries distribution (in San Juan Capist- in a large city. In a small city, it is common to oversee mul- rano), and free LED Christmas light exchange after collec- tiple programs, when in a large city, multiple departments tion of incandescent bulb Christmas lights. The program could be handling the various aspects of public works op- has been successful and shows a great partnership between erations. On the energy side, the goal was to reduce energy public and private groups, with much benefit to the com- use, resulting in lower greenhouse gases and dealing with a munities. shortage of energy. The simplest low-hanging fruit was to replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs. However, a solution Ziad Y. Mazboudi can be reached at (949) 234-4413 or for energy was creating a problem on the solid waste side [email protected]; John Burnett can be reached at (714) 505-6100 or [email protected].

March 2010 APWA Reporter 53 REVOLUTIONIZING PUBLIC WORKS

CO-LOCATED WiTH

~ MORE THAN 200 EDUCATION SESSIONS,

INCLUDING 86 SOLID WASTE-SPECIFIC SESSIONS ~

~ AN ESTIMATED 600 EXHIBITORS COVERING 125,000 SQUARE FEET ~

IN ~ IN ONE OF THE OLDEST, MOST HISTORICAL CITIES IN THE COUNTRY ~ BOSTON CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTER August 15–18, 2010 2010 APWA INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS CONGRESS & EXPOSITION WWW.APWA.NET / CONGRESS REVOLUTIONIZING PUBLIC WORKS

CO-LOCATED WiTH

~ MORE THAN 200 EDUCATION SESSIONS,

INCLUDING 86 SOLID WASTE-SPECIFIC SESSIONS ~

~ AN ESTIMATED 600 EXHIBITORS COVERING 125,000 SQUARE FEET ~

James L. Manning, P.E., Manager, Site Investigation and Remediation Program, City of Jacksonville, Florida; Juanitta Bader Clem, P.E., Principal, England-Thims & Miller, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida

ity agencies often address damage done in the past completion of the Remedial Design/Remedial Action was by people who didn’t know any better. This is the filed with Florida Superior Court in July 2008, and EPA gave basis for the Jacksonville Ash Remediation Program, permission to begin remediation in January 2010. an estimated $94 million cleanup of contaminated parcels in four sites in the northern section of this north- eastern Florida city.

From the early 1900s through the 1960s, the City of Jack- sonville operated municipal solid waste incinerators. Some of the ash produced by these facilities was disposed of onsite and in nearby dumps, and some was mixed with soil and used as fill on public and private developments. Mixed with sand, it was also used by area residents to repair potholes and fill in low-lying residential areas. Many people even sought the ash because it was thought to be good for gardening.

The contamination wasn’t discovered until the mid-1990s when the City considered developing the Forest Street In- cinerator site for a recreational facility. Tests revealed el- evated lead levels on the site due to the presence of ash. Sidewalls and the excavation bottom are tested to ensure that no This prompted additional testing at this site and at the other further remediation is required defunct incinerator at 5th and Cleveland Streets. A third site located at Lonnie C. Miller Park and a fourth site near Mon- The City has hired two contractors to perform the remedia- crief Road (once known as Brown’s Dump) were later added tion and is in the process of hiring two additional contrac- to the list of contaminated sites. tors (one for each site). After years of extensive testing and securing access agreements from homeowners and businesses, the City began the first actual parcel remediation on January 26, 2010. Contractors removed two feet of soil from around the house and trucked the soil off to a staging area for testing. Once the soil was tested and deemed non-hazardous, it was taken to a nearby landfill and reused to cover waste at the landfill.

While the City of Jacksonville is conducting the remediation as a Superfund Alternative Site under the guidance of the EPA, the City is bearing the full cost of the cleanup. Be- cause not every parcel within each site is contaminated, the project requires extensive testing to ensure that contractors only clean parcels or portions of parcels that require remediation. Limits of excavation site plan, generated with GIS, for John E. Ford School parcel in Jacksonville Ash Remediation Program In 2007, the City selected England-Thims & Miller, Inc. (ETM) to serve as Program Director. The City of Jacksonville/ In September 1999, the City voluntarily entered into an ETM Program Director Team is responsible for implementa- Administrative Order on Consent with the Environmental tion of an overall Project Management Plan, as well as coor- Protection Agency (EPA) to perform a remedial investigation dination and oversight of remediation at each site. and feasibility study of the site. A Consent Decree for the

56 APWA Reporter March 2010 Three important factors helped move the project forward. The remediation of each parcel has to be coordinated with the property owner, and since no one is forced to take part Clear, candid and frequent communication in the program, every property owner must believe that par- The City understood the importance of communication and ticipating is in his or her best interests. selected The Hester Group, a local public relations firm, to manage the critically important outreach mission to the To this end, the City is carefully addressing each property hundreds of residents and businesses affected by this clean- owner’s individual concerns, as reported in the local news- up program. paper, the Florida Times-Union, during the project’s first site remediation. To facilitate the communication process for the Ash Reme- diation Program, the City established a section on its official website called “Project New Ground.” The site includes a list of 24 candid questions and answers, a calendar of informational sessions, a permission form to down- load and sign, and other resources for affected residents.

The City is conducting numerous out- TM reach efforts such as an information center in one of the program sites, cen- Because swept is not always clean, call TYMCO. Our trally located information fairs at each Regenerative Air Sweepers blast into pavement cracks with site, program updates (held at least up to a 250mph controlled jet of air, forcing up even the finest weekly), mailings, posters, flyers, and sand and particulates into a totally enclosed system — never in-person visits to homes. exhausting dirty air as do vacuum sweepers. All with only a The City also arranged for Technical few moving parts, reducing maintenance cost and downtime. Assistance Grants (TAG), which are available for community groups to hire a technical advisor of their choosing. These advisors (one for each site) review designs and other materials on behalf of the community and report any findings to the EPA, providing affected residents with assurance that ® the City does what it said it would do. Model 435

In matters this sensitive, a solid public relations plan is critically important. Not one large project, hundreds of small ones ® Model DST-4 You can look at the Jacksonville Ash Dustless sweeping Technology Remediation as a $94 million program encompassing more than 1,000 acres of land, but that would be a failure to see the trees for the forest. In reality, this is a series of 1,500 to 1,600 relatively tiny projects that need to be addressed as such. Otherwise, you risk ® Model 600 losing the most critical aspect of any successful program of this kind—a sat- Arrange a Demonstration Today ! isfied client who believes that his or her issues are of paramount concern to 1-800-258-9626 the program team. www.tymco.com TYMCO REGENERATIVE AIR SWEEPERS are AQMD Rule 1186 Certified PM10 -Efficient

March 2010 APWA Reporter 57 “Before turning a shovel of dirt, a project manager walked only about 40 percent of residents within the project area the property with the woman who lives there and recorded have consented to participate in the project. special features, like big trees that workers weren’t supposed The quoted one community activist as to disturb,” the newspaper said. “There was a signoff list to Florida Times-Union saying, “I warned them, ‘I’m going to watch every step you make sure both sides agreed what shouldn’t be dug up. Pho- make. I don’t want any of my community members mis- tos and video of the house were shot before work started, to treated.’ I want a good job. We deserve it.” compare against the end product.” With remediation now underway, the program team hopes Completing this many “projects” requires tremendous coor- that by adhering to the three principles above—honest and dination among the City, the engineering firm, the contrac- open communication, a focus on the concerns and needs of tor, public outreach staff and the homeowner. In some ways, the residents, and efficient completion of each small proj- approaching the Ash Remediation as many small projects ect—the program will quickly gather steam. As residents see makes the entire endeavor even greater in scope. that remediation can be done without negatively affecting their properties—in fact, often improving their landscape while ridding them of contaminated soil—the percentage of property owners participating is bound to climb. This will greatly assist the City of Jacksonville in attaining its stated goal of rectifying past mistakes and leaving the affected neighborhoods a cleaner and healthier place to live.

James L. Manning can be reached at (904) 472-2850 or [email protected]; Juanitta Bader Clem can be reached at (904) 642-8990 or [email protected].

Surveying and density testing is conducted prior to landscaping —Public Notice— to ensure backfill material is brought back to grade and properly compacted to avoid depressions or low spots Historic Bridge Available The Federal Highway Administration, the California De- GIS is invaluable partment of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Alameda By using a geographic information system (GIS) for prelimi- Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) announce nary design, England-Thims & Miller was able to leverage the availability of the historic Commodore Schuyler data, reduce design time and decrease costs. Heim Bridge. The Schuyler Heim Bridge is a steel verti- The process involved extracting information that included cal lift structure with a 7-meter 240 foot span. It has the property appraiser’s office parcel data and City center- an 820-ton movable (lift) span that is supported by two line file data from the City’s GIS and data collected during cross-braced steel towers suspended by cables, and a pair the study phases. Team members then spatially linked sam- of 400+/-ton counterweights. This bridge is available to ple points and results to each parcel. qualified public agencies and nonprofits for relocation and preservation in compliance with the U.S. Secretary For each parcel tested, program team members took sam- of Interior’s Standards for Treatment of Historic Proper- ples at the four corners and the center point going down a ties. The bridge is located at the southern end of State minimum of two feet in six-inch intervals. Using GIS, we Route 103 crossing over the Cerritos Channel in Long analyzed the data to determine how much of each parcel Beach, California. The bridge was placed in service on needed to be remediated and to what depth. This greatly January 10, 1948 and is the highest vertical lift bridge in expedited the preliminary design schedule, reduced the re- the western United States. mediation costs per parcel, and allowed the project team to meet program cost-saving goals. Technical difficulties, substantial costs, and removal by a specific date associated with relocating and recon- The use of GIS to develop designs and manage related sam- structing the bridge should be anticipated. The Alameda ple data yields a long-term benefit to the City, providing a Corridor Transportation Authority will be accepting re- reference point for identifying where remediation has oc- use proposals until June 30, 2010. For more information curred on each parcel. please contact Manuel Hernandez at (310) 816-0460 or [email protected]. Program status Despite its goal to remediate contaminated parcels within Marketing this historic bridge to a responsible party is the community, the project is still the source of skepticism required under Title 23, U.S Code Section 144. among some residents. In the Moncrief Road neighborhood,

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Start using the right tool for the job—visit the WorkZone website today! www.apwa.net/workzone “I realize that relief ef- pation/english/CFEI.asp?formAction- less so. Those using the kits believe the forts in Haiti are still Apply&CallID=262. It’s always a good results are more accurate than normal focusing on humanitar- idea to investigate before we let our chemical testing which only records ian aid and that cash do- hearts take us on a goodwill journey what happens at any given moment nations are the best way where the recipients may not be pre- with the water quality as compared to to help right now. If I’d like to pared to accept our help. the more long-term results of organ- volunteer my services to rebuild isms actually living in the culture, and “We are looking for a the infrastructure, how can I do the kits provide clues to things that project that high school that?” might be happening in the stream that students could use to might not otherwise be known. The help comply with our The public service spirit of kits are inexpensive and have proven community education public works people is always to be beneficial by allowing streambeds and outreach program for storm- strong and they always want to be restored to protect the environ- water management. We have al- to move some mortar and ment and improve the water quality ready planted rain gardens and bricks, clear some roads, reconnect wa- for even drinking water sources further developed test plots for different ter lines, and anything else that will downstream. For more information, types of vegetation but we’d like improve living conditions for those visit the Leaf Pack Network website at to go a step farther. Any sugges- who have been affected by disaster. As www.stroudcenter.org/lpn. with the hurricanes, those desires are tions?” even stronger with the massive devasta- “Missouri just enacted a I recently read a fascinating tion in Haiti. We have learned through new law that allows fines article about a high school in these experiences that the desire to for teenagers found to be New York that began using help can often create more confusion texting while driving. It the Leaf Pack Network to col- if it is not coordinated. We all saw doesn’t extend to anyone over 18. lect scientific data from a small stream pictures of the airport and read about You know more than teenagers that runs alongside the school proper- the difficulties even getting food, wa- are texting plus all the cell phone ty. The program focuses on the macro- ter and essential medical supplies and discussions that are taking place invertebrates that colonized the leaf lit- personnel into the affected areas. With when steering a car. Are there re- ter on the streambed. It is a simple tool no source available for lodging or food ally facts that back up the need which is, primarily, an onion bag. Vol- for volunteers, the offer of unsolicited for these laws?” unteers fill the onion bags with leaves. help is often more of a hindrance than Then they anchor the leaf packs to the Apparently, if you think a help. The Center for International streambed for several weeks to provide you can walk and talk at the Disaster Information (CIDI) now has habitat for the tiny creatures that live same time or talk on your a tool available which enables indi- in the waters. The volunteers return to cell phone while crossing the viduals to register as a technical assis- the stream to collect the bundles and street without being run down by a tance person. Use this link at http:// evaluate the mix of organisms they find teenager text-messaging his girlfriend, dex.cidi.org/dstechas.aspx to register in the soggy leaves as indicators of the you would be wrong! Findings from and indicate the type of assistance, stream’s health. The kit provides aids two recent studies on pedestrian safety education and language capabilities, to help identify the “bugs” that crawl found people talking on a cell phone previous experience with disaster re- into the leaf clumps. It includes little while walking across the street took sponse and the type of service/skills Petri dishes and flash cards with pho- about 25 percent longer to cross and you could provide. Canadians can reg- tographs that illustrate the bugs you’re were more likely to be hit by cars than ister their interest and areas of experi- supposed to be looking for—what their those who were not so distracted. And ence with the Federation of Canadian shapes are, what they are called, and for people 60 and older, talking on a Municipalities by going to the FCM whether they are pollution-sensitive or cell phone made it 15 percent more website at http://www.fcm.ca/partici-

60 APWA Reporter March 2010 likely they’d be hit by a car while cross- the Virginia Tech Transportation Insti- ing the street. Used to be a common tute, “Text messaging made the risk of Please address all joke that someone couldn’t “walk and crash or near-crash event (for drivers of inquiries to: chew gum” at the same time, but ap- heavy vehicles or trucks) 23.2 times as Ann Daniels parently we can’t walk and talk at the high as non-distracted driving.” And, Director of Credentialing same time either! Another study per- if that isn’t bad enough, 30 percent APWA, 2345 Grand Blvd., formed by the Pew Research Center’s of Americans have a genetic variant Suite 700 Internet and Daily Life Project found limiting the availability of a protein Kansas City, MO 64108-2625 that 26 percent of American teenagers called brain-derived neurotrophic fac- (ages 16 and 17) have sent or received tor. These people perform 20 percent Fax questions to: (816) 472- text messages while driving. Forty per- worse on driving tests than those who 1610 cent say they’ve been in a car “when don’t have the variant, according to the driver used a cell phone in a way researchers at the University of Cali- E-mail: [email protected] that put themselves and others in fornia-Irvine. Now, does that make you danger.” According to research from want to just stay home?

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“I know staff will take pride in the article appearing in the APWA Reporter, which we have long viewed as the leading periodical on public works management and operations.” – Steven P. Latoski, P.E., PTOE, Director, Mohave County Public Works, Kingman, Arizona These are just a few of the 29,000-plus decision makers that advertisers need to reach! Call Amanda, Erin or Jennifer at (800) 800-0341 Advertise in the April “Facilities and Grounds” issue Don’t miss this opportunity to advertise in the April The deadline to reserve your space is March 8; “Facilities and Grounds” issue which focuses on facility the materials are due by March 10. maintenance and best management practices, grounds Bonus: Advertise and we’ll give you a free listing in management, and urban forestry. The April issue also our “Products in the News” column! contains our Annual Buyer’s Guide!

March 2010 APWA Reporter 61 Products in the News

BLACK-MAX™ No more – stops rust in looking for its tracks! AC power on BLACK-MAX™ a jobsite Cathodic Rust The new CIC Arrester is an POWERBOX is environmentally a standard truck responsible alter- toolbox that pro- native to hazard- vides you with ous sandblasting built-in AC electric power, 100 psi air power, 2,100 crank- and repainting ing amps of emergency boost starting power, smart battery of rusty surfaces. charging power, and built-in lights and entertainment sys- Simply brush, tems, mounted right on your truck. And the POWERBOX spray or roll on BLACK-MAX™ and its new co-polymer tech- doesn’t use your truck battery! The self-contained POWER- nology will transform rust into a black polymer shield. This BOX provides up to six hours of clean-quiet working power shield stops the rusting process and creates a surface that is for running power saws, grinders, drills, impact wrenches, ready for repainting. No rust bleed-through! For more infor- air guns, air tools and airing up tires. The DC power out- mation please call (800) 688-6221. put can power winches, boost-start backhoes, tractors, and even dozers. The POWERBOX is great for emergency power Rieskamp outages, tailgate parties and camping, because it’s quiet— Washing no noise! See for yourself; contact USABlueBook today at Systems (847) 775-4756 and ask for a free demonstration DVD. announces new neutral ARMCO Utility & Valve Box solutions cleaner in limelight at 2010 NUCA’s Orlando availability Expo Rieskamp The 2010 NUCA Expo in Orlando, Florida, Washing Sys- has proven to be the perfect test audience for tems, a division ARMCO’s new Ultimate Valve Box Stack of Galaxy Associates Inc., designs, manufactures, installs Cleaner™ called the “Blue Screw.” Utility and services automatic wash systems for trucks, buses, trash companies and underground contractors from trucks, trains, and public works facility vehicles. Customers throughout the U.S. participated in over 100 can now turn to a single source for the industry’s only ef- demonstrations showing the efficiency and fective neutral cleaning chemistry as well as premier safety options the new tool delivers. By using durable drive-through fleet wash equipment, and a national this tool workers can cut their evacuation service network that provides regularly scheduled preven- time down by 75% when having to perform tive maintenance service. Galaxy Green Sheen 1850 is a maintenance and repair on the millions of valve neutral pH cleaner specifically developed for truck, trailer, box stacks that presently exist throughout the transit, and train spray wash applications. The unique and U.S. The standard length is 5’8” and custom complex blend of active ingredients in this product adjusts sizes are available. This tool is also Eco Friendly, to the surface tension of each surface it contacts, allowing since it works on “manpower” which reduces soils to be removed quickly. For more information please the need for vac-trucks and generators that are currently visit www.galaxy-associates.com or www.rieskamp.com. used, in some municipalities, for cleaning valve stacks. For

62 APWA Reporter March 2010 more information please call (941) 661-4499 or visit www. degrees Celsius) scalding steam which kills most new growth utilityvalveboxsolutions.com. in one second. Killed weeds shrivel and disappear. No further cleanup is required. The machine uses less than $15 of Geospatial clean-burning propane per day and less than three gallons Corporation’s of water per hour. For more information please call (250) ™ Smart Probe 721-5004 or visit www.greensteam.com. The Smart Probe™ is an autonomous map- ping system that can ActiveBatch 7.0 accurately determine, provides users with in 3D, the location of centralized point of any utility pipe with in- control over your automation requirements ternal diameters rang- Advanced Systems Concepts’ leading Enterprise Job ing from 1.5 to 60 inch- Scheduling and Workload Automation software, Active- es. Traveling through a Batch 7.0, provides users with a centralized point of con- pipeline at up to six feet trol over all of your automation requirements using our per second, the probe versatile drag-and-drop interface to easily create workflows records 800 angular and using any jobs, plans or templated “production ready” job linear velocity changes per second along the x, y and z axes. steps from its Integrated Jobs Library that includes SAP, Crys- The data acquired by the probe can be stored on a PC or tal Reports, VMware, SQL Server, Oracle, etc. ActiveBatch viewed and evaluated in the field, or can be transferred via has been proven to improve service levels and reduce errors the Internet for evaluation by anyone, or stored and entered from manual operations. Governments use ActiveBatch as into a GIS/CAD database for future reference. The probe can a centralized approach for integrated scheduling of critical be used for water pipelines, gravity sewers, pressure sewers, business systems and processes automating workflows across conduits, oil and gas distribution pipelines, environmental applications, platforms and databases. ActiveBatch has been pipelines and most industrial pipelines. For more informa- recognized in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling, tion please contact Geospatial Corporation at (724) 353- and its economic benefits have been identified in a study by 3400 or visit www.geospatialcorporation.com. Forrester Consulting. For more information please contact Jim Manias at [email protected]. Pesticide spraying on Crafco Mini sidewalks Melters: can now be the ideal replaced with solution clean green for small steam pavement Metro landscapers preservation and public works projects officials maintain- The Crafco ing sidewalks, Mini Melter parking lots and 10 is a hand-ag- other hard-paved itated, 10-gallon melter/applicator that will melt sealant for surfaces now have application in approximately twenty minutes. The wheeled a powerful ally in Mini Melter easily follows random cracks for efficient crack the battle against sealing. The Crafco Mini Melter 30 is ideal for larger seal- weeds. Green- ant demands. The Crafco Mini Melter 30 is a 30-gallon, self- Steam Solutions contained, air-jacketed, hand-agitated unit requiring the use Inc. is shipping of a wheeled pour pot or can be used in conjunction with a high-powered the Mini Melter 10 as a refilling mechanism. For more infor- portable steam gun which instantly knocks down young mation visit www.crafco.com or contact your local autho- weeds growing in cracks and crevices. The GS-5000i Steam rized Crafco representative. Weeder shoots 650 to 930 degrees Fahrenheit (350 to 500

March 2010 APWA Reporter 63 STORServer Backup Cafe2Go, the self- Appliances heating beverage kit STORServer Backup The world’s first self-heating Appliances are scalable, beverage kit is now available to enterprise solutions for public works crews to provide hot data backup archiving beverages in the field. Brought and disaster recovery. to you from the makers of They are easy to use and HeaterMeals Self-Heating fully integrated, including Meals, Cafe2Go Self-Heating appropriately architected Beverage Kits come with everything you need to enjoy and sized hardware, soft- satisfying, hot beverages anytime, anyplace. With a shelf-life ware and services. No of up to 18 months, and no refrigeration required, Cafe2Go matter how much data kits are easy to store and distribute, and will go anywhere. you have, STORServer In just 30 minutes, Cafe2Go Self-Heating Beverage Kits heat has an appliance to meet 18 cups of water to an ideal temperature that enables the full your needs. STORServer’s flavor of coffee, tea or cocoa to emerge, and Cafe2Go keeps Backup Appliances pro- beverages warm for over an hour. Additional information on vide disk-to-disk and disk-to-disk-tape configurations. Each the Cafe2Go Self-Heating Beverage Kits is available at www. appliance includes certified hardware and software custom c2g.heatermeals.com. configured to meet each customer’s individual needs. The appliance supports more than a dozen OS platforms, many Slope-Pro e-mail and database platforms, various network connections receives rave (NAS, SAN, LAN, WAN) and hundreds of storage devices. To reviews contact STORServer, please call (800) 550-5121. Progressive Turf Equipment Inc. has introduced yet another world- class product—the Slope-Pro. Intro- duced at the GIE show in Louisville, the Slope-Pro was the recipient of rave reviews. The Slope- Pro is a remote-controlled, self-contained, tracked mower capable of rough-cut or finished-cut mowing. It is designed to mow difficult and sloped areas where conventional means or methods cannot be used safely or economically. In addition, the operator is not subjected to excessive noise or vibration. “We looked at all other similar products on the market and, using our twenty years of experience in producing commercial mowers, developed the Slope-Pro that, in Winkler salt/sand storage buildings our opinion, is ‘Best in Class’,” said Luke Janmaat, president of Progressive Turf. The Slope-Pro is scheduled to be com- The Winkler commercial buildings combined with mercially available mid-summer 2010. For more informa- Allied Steel’s Gatorshield® Galvanized Tubing and ZRC weld tion please visit our website at www.progressiveturfequip. protection give a superior protection against rust. Further, with com or call us at (800) 668-8873. applying the epoxy coat option it will extend the life of the building in the harsh conditions of storing your sand, salt or fertilizer bags. Winches are typically bolted on the outside Join us at the “Show for Snow” of the building to keep them away from corrosive materials. For more information please contact Winkler Canvas at For more details and to register online visit us at: (800) 852-2638, send e-mail to buildingsales@winklercanvas. Omaha, Nebraska www.apwa.net/snow com to find a dealer nearest you, or visit our website at www. April 18-21, 2010 winklercanvas.com.

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March 2010 APWA Reporter 67 UPCOMING APWA EVENTS International Public Works Congress & Exposition North American Snow Conference 2010 Aug. 15-18 Boston, MA 2010 Apr. 18-21 Omaha, NE 2011 Sept. 18-21 Denver, CO 2011 Apr. 10-13 Spokane, WA 2012 Aug. 26-29 Anaheim, CA For more information, contact Brenda Shaver at (800) 848-APWA or send 2013 Aug. 25-28 Chicago, IL e-mail to [email protected]. 2014 Aug. 17-20 Toronto, ON For more information, contact Dana Priddy at (800) 848-APWA or send National Public Works Week: May 16-22, 2010 e-mail to [email protected]. Always the third full week in May. For more information, contact Jon Dilley at (800) 848-APWA or send e-mail to [email protected].

MARCH 2010 APRIL 2010 1-3 APWA: Stormwater Management Workshop, Grapevine, 1-6 International Slurry Surfacing Association, Annual Meeting, Isle TX, (800) 848-APWA, www.apwa.net Beach, FL, www.slurry.org 11 APWA: Click, Listen & Learn, “If Only I’d Known – 2-6 Asphalt Emulsion Manufacturers Association, Annual Meeting, Developing Disaster Recovery Exercises,” (800) 848-APWA, Sunny Isles Beach, FL, www.aema.org www.apwa.net 8-9 PSMJ’s Public Works Project Management Bootcamp, Chicago, IL, 13-17 National Corrugated Steel Pipe Association, Annual Meeting, Destin, (800) 848-APWA, www.apwa.net FL, www.ncspa.org 13-17 National Corrugated Steel Pipe Association, Annual Meeting, Destin, 15-17 National League of Cities, 2010 Congressional City Conference, FL, www.ncspa.org Washington, D.C., www.nlc.org 13-17 National League of Cities, Congressional City Conference, 17-20 Associated General Contractors of America, Annual Convention, Washington, D.C., www.nlc.org Orlando, FL, www.agc.org 18-21 APWA: North American Snow Conference, Omaha, NE, 19-22 Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute, Annual Meeting, San (800) 848-APWA, www.apwa.net Antonio, TX, www.icpi.org 20 APWA: Self Assessment Using the Public Works 25 APWA: Click, Listen & Learn, “LED Technology,” (800) 848- Management Practices Manual, Rolling Meadows, IL, (800) APWA, www.apwa.net 848-APWA, www.apwa.net INDEX OF ADVERTISERS When you contact an advertiser regarding a product, please tell them you saw their ad in the APWA Reporter. Thanks! – The Editor Legend: IFC = Inside Front Cover; IBC = Inside Back Cover; BC = Back Cover

Accu-Steel, Inc., pp. 21, 65 ESRI, p. IFC NTech Industries, Inc., p. 66 thomas engineering group, www.ASICoverBuildings.com www.esri.com/fleet www.weedseeker.com llc., p. 66 www.thomas-engineering.com Burns & McDonnell, p. 67 Evolution Paving Resources, Portland Cement Association, www.burnsmcd.com p. 67 p. IBC Tracker Software Corp./ www.evolutionpaving.com www.cement.org PubWorks, p. 67 Camosy Construction, p. 67 www.PubWorks.com www.camosy.com Gee Asphalt Systems, p. 65 Precision Concrete Cutting, www.geeasphalt.net/apwa p. 66 Trackless Vehicles LTD, p. 9 CIPPlanner Corporation, p. 5 www.SafeSidewalks.com www.tracklessvehicles.com www.cipplanner.com/APWA Geocal, Inc., p. 65 www.geocal.us Proseal Inc., p. 67 Trimble Navigation, p. 65 Crafco, Inc., p. 67 www.prosealks.com www.weedseeker.com www.crafco.com Henke Manufacturing Corp., p. 66 Pulltarps Manufacturing, p. 66 TYMCO International, LTD, Dannenbaum Engineering www.henkemfg.com www.pulltarps.com p. 57 Company, p. 66 www.tymco.com www.dannenbaum.com Holt Technologies, p. 67 QuakeWrap, Inc., p. 66 www.holttechnologies.com www.PipeMedic.com WEST Consultants, Inc., p. 67 Designovations, Inc., p. 67 www.westconsultants.com www.designovations.com Manhole Adjustible Riser Co., Rhomar Industries, Inc., p. 23 p. 67 www.rhomar.com The Willdan Group of Donaldson Company, p. 19 www.manholeriser.com Companies, p. 67 www.donaldson.com/emissions Southeastern Surveying, p. 66 www.willdan.com MJ Harden Associates, Inc., www.southeasternsurveying.com Enterprise Information p. 66 Winkler Canvas Ltd., p. 31 Solutions, p. BC www.mjharden.com Stan Design Inc., p. 65 www.winklercanvas.com www.enterinfo.com www.stanjacks.com Norseman Environmental EsGil Corporation, p. 66 Products, p. 33 SWA Group, p. 67 www.esgil.com www.norsemanenvironmental. www.swagroup.com com

68 APWA Reporter March 2010 1.15.10 PCA PAVING AD FEB 2010 Trim: 8.125 x 10.875 Live: 7 x 10 APWA

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