HomeMy WebLinkAboutChapter 2 Background - for SWAC review6
Chapter 2
Background
Planning Area
This chapter includes many of the elements of a Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) plan required
in RCW 70A.205.045, including:
• A description of the existing solid waste handling facilities including an inventory of any
deficiencies in meeting current solid waste handling needs
• The estimated long-range needs for solid waste handling facilities projected 20 years into the
future
• Accounting for the County’s comprehensive land use plan
• The franchise for solid waste collection granted by the Washington Utilities and
Transportation Commission (UTC)
• Population densities within the UTC franchise service area
• Locations for waste reduction activities such as recycling
The planning area for this SWMP is the East Jefferson County, Washington service area defined by the
Washington Utilities and Transpiration Commission in Tariff No. 25 in Appendix ___. [Insert during
final review]. This area is serviced by Murrey’s Disposal Co., Inc., which is owned by Olympic
Disposal, Inc.
The planning area also includes the City of Port Townsend which participated in the development of
this plan as part of the SWAC and which formally opted into the SWMP by City of Port Townsend
City Council Resolution ___ found in Appendix ___. [add when adopted].
The “West End” or Pacific coast side of Jefferson County is included in Tariff No. 24 but is part of
Clallam County.
Current Facilities
In 1993, Jefferson County adopted a waste export model utilizing the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in
Klickitat County, WA.
In the same year, the Jefferson County landfill was closed and post-closure care of the Jefferson County
landfill and septage lagoon began, including groundwater monitoring and methane gas extraction.
In August 2020, Jefferson County installed raised mulched beds to allow passive landfill gas collection
and filtration via microbial digestion. In December 2024, Jefferson County submitted a memorandum
to the local health jurisdiction requesting to end post-closure care. The memorandum documented
landfill stabilization with little to no gas or leachate generation or settlement. The Department of
Ecology is presently conducting a study of surrounding private wells in order to better evaluate Public
Works’ recommendation of post-closure care cessation. [update during final review]
As of 2025, solid waste facilities in East Jefferson County include the Transfer Station located near the
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City of Port Townsend and the Quilcene Rural Drop Box (QRDB) located in the unincorporated rural
village center of Quilcene. Both facilities began operation in 1993.
Recycling drop-off locations in Port Ludlow, Port Hadlock, and Kala Point were closed in 2026. Self-
haul recycling remained at each solid waste facility.
Jefferson County’s solid waste facilities host Environmental Centers that allow self-haul drop off at no
charge for:
• Mercury containing lights
• Antifreeze
• Used motor oil
• Rechargeable batteries
• Sharps
Nearly all types of materials are accepted at both facilities with the exception of asbestos. Unlike the
Transfer Station, the QRDB does not accept construction and demolition debris.
The Transfer Station property hosts the City of Port Townsend (City) biosolids composting facility, a
function of the City’s & County’s wastewater treatment plants. Self-haul customers deliver yard debris
to a drop-off area behind the County-operated customer scales. This material is ground into feedstock
which is mixed with biosolids to produce finished compost through a thermophilic process.
In 2026, Jefferson County entered into a ten-year operating agreement with Murrey’s Disposal, Inc for
the Transfer Station’s Recycle Center. Murrey’s Disposal, Inc processes collected material for
shipment to regional markets.
Also in 2026, Jefferson County entered into a three-year lease agreement for a food waste composting
operation with the non-profit incubator StrongerTowns, dba Return to Earth. This program is located
on roughly two acres of unused Transfer Station property.
Disposal Rates & Waste Characterization
Annual tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) processed at the transfer station since 2010 is shown in
Figure ___ below.
Figure ____: 2010 – 2025 Transfer Station Annual Tons
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Jefferson County participated in a waste characterization study conducted by the Department of
Ecology in 2020 and 2021. The data collected and analyzed in the study represents the most current
available. The study used five geographical areas to compare waste composition. Jefferson and Mason
counties fell into the “West” area. Figure ___ below summarizes the study’s findings. More detailed
waste composition data can be found at:
https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/publications/documents/2107026.pdf
Figure ___: Jefferson & Mason County Waste Composition: 2020 - 2021
Infrastructure Deficiencies
The Transfer Station was designed to process 55 tons of MSW per day. Figure __shows 2011 & 2012
as the last years the Transfer Station operated near that design capacity. In 2025, the facility saw a daily
average of 86.69 tons or 63% over what it was designed to process.
Figure ____: 2010-2025 Tons per Operating Day
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Operating six days a week and above the design capacity for so many years has created a backlog of
capital repair and replacement needs. The first large capital project was completed in 2023, with the
replacement of failed pit scales. In 2026, the pedestal-mounted knuckle boom crane used to top-load
and compact municipal solid waste (MSW) catastrophically failed, requiring an emergency
replacement with a mobile waste compactor and repairs to the surrounding steel pit skirting and chute
[Insert customer scale project info during final review]
The schedule and costs of transfer station capital repair and replacement projects is discussed in
Chapter 3 Profit: Economic Performance and a revolving five year Capital Plan is found in
Appendix ___[Insert latest update to the capital plan during final review]
The QRDB facility has received capital upgrades as needed since the adoption of the 2016 Solid Waste
Management Plan. Anticipated capital needs are limited to the replacement of the two small garbage
compactors scheduled for 2029. The QRDB is not overburdened by customer demand and operates
three days a week.
Replacement Facility
In 2023, the Board of County Commissioner’s appointed a twenty-member Solid Waste Facilities Task
Force (SWFTF) to plan a rebuild or replacement of the Transfer Station. They worked directly with
County staff and a consultant, bringing a wide diversity of subject matter expertise and citizen
representation to the process.
The current transfer station location was determined to be both too small and poorly located to meet a
forty year service horizon. Four candidate sites were selected from over nine thousand properties in the
study area. The SWFTF determined the four short-listed sites would not unfairly impact minority or
overburdened communities.
The SWFTF assisted staff to develop site selection criteria used to score candidate sites. These criteria
included:
• Adaptability to meet projected population growth and a dynamic regulatory landscape
• Service Equity as measured in drivetime from the population centroid
• Environmental as measured in the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Land Development that would allow the property to best mitigate for aesthetics, noise, and
odor
• Public/Private partnership potential
• Other Operations Co-location potential to gain the largest return on investment for the capital
outlay
• Cost Containment as measured in the probable cost of traffic safety improvements needed for
ingress/egress and the potential for lower labor costs through a reduction is self-haul customer
counts
By consensus of the SWFTF, and independently by staff, a thirty-seven acre County-owned property
located to the northeast of the State Route 19 and 104 traffic circle was determined to be the most
suitable future location of a replacement transfer station. A conceptual design and cost estimating were
completed in October 2026 and presented to the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC). [Insert
current status on the planning process during final review]
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Population Growth
The State of Washington Office of Financial Management (OFM) publishes population projections for
each county for use in Growth Management Act (GMA) planning efforts every five years. The County
is responsible under the GMA for allocating population density in consultation with the City of Port
Townsend.
In 2024, Jefferson County and the City of Port Townsend developed a population projection and urban
population allocation for the City of Port Townsend and Irondale and Port Hadlock UGA based on
OFM’s 2022 Medium projections. The county passed Jefferson County Resolution No. 68-1118-24R
on November 18, 2024 adopting an updated population forecast. Existing and future population
projections for the City of Port Townsend, the county portion of the Port Townsend UGA with the
Irondale and Port Hadlock UGA (County Urban Areas), and specific rural areas are summarized in the
2025 Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan as shown in Table ___ below:
Table ___: Jefferson County and City of Port Townsend 20-year Population Projection and Distribution
Location
(Unincorporated unless noted)
2024
Population
2025 Est.
Population
Growth
Allocation
2025-2045
Projected
Growth4
2045
Projected
Population
2025-45
Projected
Growth Rate5
Urban Subtotal 13,483 13,831 80% 4,720 18,551 1.48%
City of Port Townsend
(incorporated)1
10,530 10,807 40% 2,360 13,167 0.99%
County Urban Areas
(unincorporated)1
2,953 3,024 40% 2,360 5,384 2.93%
Rural & Resource Areas1 20,217 20,755 20% 1,180 21,935 0.28%
Port Ludlow MPR2 2,979 2,979 N/A 660 3,639 1.01%
Pleasant Harbor MPR2 — — N/A 182 182 N/A
Brinnon RVC2 774 774 N/A 43 817 0.27%
Quilcene RVC2 490 490 N/A 43 533 0.42%
Other Rural & Resource Areas3 15,974 16,512 N/A 252 16,764 0.08%
Countywide Total1 33,700 34,586 100% 5,900 40,486 0.79%
Legend: MPR = Master Planned Resort; RVC = Rural Village Center.
Notes:
1 Countywide population in 2024 and for Port Townsend, the Irondale and Port Hadlock UGA, and the rural areas
overall is based on OFM’s 2024 UGA Small Area Estimates. The 2025 population for these same areas is then
estimated based on the 2024 relative percentages and 2025 countywide total from the adopted CPPs.
2 The 2023 ACS 5-year population estimates for the Port Ludlow, Brinnon, and Quilcene Census Designated Places
(CDPs) are used as existing population estimates for the Port Ludlow MPR, Brinnon RVC, and Quilcene RVC. The
CDPs are slightly larger than the actual MPR or RVC boundaries but are used here for estimation purposes. No
existing population is assumed in the Pleasant Harbor MPR as no permanent residences are currently developed.
3 Total population in the other rural areas was calculated by subtracting the individual rural area estimates from the
total rural population estimate.
5 Calculated as a compound annual growth rate.
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Future Transfer Station Service Demand
To forecast future service demand on a replacement transfer station over the planned forty year service
life, Public Works first identified an average annual tons of MSW per capita using five years of data as
seen in Table __ .
Table ___:2020-2024 Tons per Capita
Assuming 7 years minimum before a new facility could be operational, together with the planned 40-year
service life, the annual per capital MSW generation was then applied to the projected 2071 population by
location using the growth rates identified in the 2025 Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan to forecast
future demand on a replacement transfer station at the end of its planned forty year service life, as seen in
Table ___ below.
Table ___: 40 Year Tonnage Forecast
Land Use
The 2025 Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan includes the General Land Use Category map in Table
___. The location of the current Transfer Station, Quilcene Rural Drop Box, and the planned location of
a replacement transfer station are also shown.
Year Population*MSW Tons Per Capita Rate
2020 32,977 21,819.49 0.662
2021 33,100 23,433.41 0.708
2022 33,350 24,056.22 0.721
2023 33,425 23,587.14 0.706
2024 33,700 23,725.15 0.704
0.700Five Year Average
Five Year Trend: Annual MSW Tons Per Capita
* Source: Office of Financial Management: April 1, 2025 Report used for allocation of
selected State revenues
2025 Population
Projected
Annual Growth
Rate 2071 Population
2025 Annual
Tons/Per Capita
Projected 2071
Annual Tons
10,807 0.99%17,002 0.754 12,827
3,024 2.91%11,026 0.754 8,319
2,979 1.01%4,687 0.754 3,536
774 0.27%876 0.754 661
490 0.42%594 0.754 448
16,512 0.08%17,131 0.754 12,924
34,586 51,317 38,714
Location (Unincorporated unless
noted)
Port Townsend (Incorporated)
County Urban
Port Ludlow MPR
Brinnon RVC
Quilcene RVC
Other Rural and Resource Areas
Totals
40 Year Tonnage Projection
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Table ____: Jefferson County Land Use
Waste Export Model?
CURRENT TRANSFER
STATION
PLANNED FUTURE
TRANSFER STATION
QUILCENE RURAL
DROP BOX