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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSolid and Hazardous Waste (PDF)Jefferson County Public Health Performance Measures 2012 Year End Report SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE PROGRAMS 1 PROGRAMS: Solid Waste Enforcement, Solid Waste Education & Outreach, Site Hazard Assessment, Small Business Assistance (Local Source Control, EnviroStars Certification, Green Business Certification). MISSION: The mission of the Solid Waste Code Compliance and Education Program is to enforce Washington State and Jefferson County solid and hazardous waste code, educate the community about ways to reduce solid and hazardous waste, and to promote the goals and objectives for solid waste reduction and recycling outlined in the Jefferson County Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan. GOALS FOR FY 2012:  Investigate solid and hazardous waste complaints in a timely manner  Resolve solid and hazardous waste violations through voluntary compliance or citations and legal action when necessary  Investigate all Initial Investigations as referred by Ecology  Resolve backlog of Site Hazard Assessments awaiting ranking  Reduce the incidence of illegal dumping  Assure all permitted facilities (past & present) and exempt facilities meet current regulation standards  Increase public awareness of household hazardous waste (HHW) disposal requirements and options  Promote “rethink, reduce, re-use, and recycle” to facilitate the County goal for 50% waste reduction, recycling, composting, and waste diversion  Provide on-site technical assistance site visits to businesses to encourage environmentally sustainable business practices OBJECTIVES FOR FY 2012:  Coordinate with other agencies to resolve complex solid waste violations  Work with the County’s Prosecuting Attorney to pursue legal remedy for enforcement cases when warranted  Respond via phone, letter or site visit to all solid waste complaints  Respond to all initial investigations within three business days  Conduct Initial Investigations and Site Hazard Assessments as referred by Ecology  Educate consumers on choosing non-toxic alternatives to HHW  Educate public on proper disposal of HHW  Promote consuming less and re using more. Recycling is not enough  Conduct LSC site visits to identify and actively work with high priority SQG’s to ensure use of best management practices and prevent toxic and hazardous wastes from entering surface waters  Promote Green Business and EnviroStar certification programs 2 PERFORMANCE INDICATORS SOLID WASTE 2009 2010 2011 2012 Projected 2012 Final Total number of solid waste complaints received 60 65 68 75 36 Total number of solid waste violations resolved 90 68 81 75 60 # of illegal dumps complaints received 14 11 14 12 5 # of illegal dumps complaints resolved 19 10 12 12 5 # of illegal burning complaints received 5 7 0 6 2 # of illegal burning complaints resolved 0 7 0 6 2 # of citations/tickets issued 24 5 8 5 4 # of court hearings attended 19 2 7 2 6 Tons/cubic yards of solid waste removed/recycled through compliance efforts (not including junk vehicles) 55+ tons 25 50 60 Total number of solid waste violations awaiting legal action/abatement 1 2 2 3 2 # of warrants of abatement obtained/completed 0 0 1 2-Jan 1 # of Jeff. Co. permitted facilities meeting current regulation standards (out of 8) (1) 8 of 9 8 8 8 7 # of Jeff. Co. exempt facilities inspected/ meeting current regulation standards (out of 4) 4 4 4 4 4 Total number of active EnviroStars businesses (out of 100 eligible in Jefferson County) 14 18 21 23 26 # of new EnviroStars businesses 3 5 5 3 3 # of active Green Businesses 21 26 24 33 28 # of new Green Businesses 6 6 6 6 1 # of Education and Outreach Activities (articles, PSAs, and events) New Category Added in 2012 14 # of Junk Cars removed/recycled 139 141 35 150 < 25 # of “Amnesty Day” events 0 1 0 0 0 Tons/yards of solid waste recycled/disposed of during “Amnesty Day”. (2) -- 3000 Tires South County -- -- -- HAZARDOUS WASTE 2009 2010 2011 2012 Projected 2012 Final ERTS Received/Investigated New Category 9 10 12 # Initial Investigations Completed 13 7 5 10 12 # Awaiting Site Hazard Assessment 10 10 8 0 3 (2— on hold) # Site Hazard Assessments Completed 4 0 4 7 2 # of Local Source Control Visits 9 29 19 72 105 Spill Kits Distributed 0 0 25 0 0 Notes: (1) At the end of 2008, JCPH broke out several facilities that had previously been lumped together. (Jefferson County Transfer Station, Recycling Center, and closed Municipal Landfill.) This will enable clarification for the purposes of monitoring and permitting. In 2010, Ecology took over the permitting of the Olympic Corrections Bio-solids composting facility, reducing the number of sites to eight. (2) JCPH worked with Washington Department of Ecology to remove and properly dispose of 904 tons of tires from five large sites, at no cost to Jefferson County. Initial numbers from 2007 were 300 tons. Final numbers for the project by the end of 2008 were 904 tons. JCPH then sponsored a one-day tire-recycling event for county residents that collected an additional 2500 tires. (3) Until now, Site Hazard Assessments (SHA) and Initial Investigations (II) have not been included in the solid waste team’s annual projections. 3 STUDY/ANALYSIS Solid Waste Enforcement In 2012, the Solid Waste Program spent a significant amount of time in pre-litigation activities because of the denial of the Port Townsend Paper Company’s Inert Waste Permit. We also experienced an increase in the number of public records requests. In all, we received a total of 24 public records requests, a majority of which came in during the summer months. The volume of public records requests nearly overwhelmed administrative staff and highlighted the need for a more streamlined and consistent process for public records. Overall, residential complaints have steadily declined since 2007. Of the sixty cases closed this year, two were long-term, time-intensive cases needing extensive resources to resolve. Currently the program has a backlog of 10 time-intensive cases. These include cases where clients exhibit hoarding-type behaviors and will require more time and resources to resolve (e.g.: multiple citations, court hearings, and warrants of abatement). Our goal is to complete two abatements a year on these longer-term cases. We also may investigate other resources to assist clients with hoarding-type behavior. Without additional funding and staff, these will take at least five years to resolve. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of requests for junk vehicle affidavits. We attribute this to the Sherriff’s office reinstituting their volunteers to this work. The number of illegal dump complaints seems to be stabilizing. We expect the numbers for illegal dumping and burning of garbage to remain consistent until/unless there are structural changes such as mandatory garbage collection service. Over the past year, the Solid Waste Enforcement Program has completed the following quality improvement projects:  Revised the Noticed and Order to Correct Violations (NOCV) so that the readability is within accepted guidelines for communicating with the public  Integrated TideMark into the program to make tracking complaint cases more efficient and developed a TideMark SOP  Produced a guidance document on the management of Solid Waste that is enclosed with our NOCVs  Developed a streamlined Compliance Agreement Solid Waste Education and Outreach Solid Waste public education continues to focus on pollution prevention through education and outreach on proper disposal of household toxics and reducing waste. In 2012, JCPH began developing environmental and waste reduction curriculum for use in the schools. Presentations meet many of the science Essential Academic Learning Requirement and we anticipate scheduling classroom presentations by spring of 2013. In response to several concerns from the community, Public Works, and the Solid Waste Advisory Committee regarding contamination in the recyclables, we started a series of Recycle Reminders in the City of Port Townsend newsletters and Public Service Announcements (PSA) 4 on KPTZ. These reminders will continue through 2013, and their placements broaden to include venues like The Rose Theater. The Solid Waste Education and Outreach team took over the management of the 2good2toss site from Public Works for one year to determine if increased advertising in different venue would increase use. Initial use of the site was high, but then tapered off and the team determined that for the amount of money and effort, there was little return, and will not continue operating the site. Currently, there are no performance measures for Solid Waste Education and Outreach and few ways to measure the effectiveness of education and outreach campaigns. Research has shown that brochures and pamphlets are not effective at instituting behavior change. In 2013, our education and outreach will focus on using social marketing concepts and engaging people to take action like signing a pledge/commitment to reduce their waste by one garbage can a month, use durable items like cups and water bottles instead of disposable ones. SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTACE PROGRAM Local Source Control In 2011, JCPH became a full partner in the Local Source Control Program, an Ecology contract to conduct pollution prevention site visits with the goal of reducing polluted runoff in the Puget Sound Region. This has broadened the scope of the Solid Waste Program to include more small businesses as part of its service delivery. Our previous work with small businesses was limited to Green Business and the EnviroStars Program, our incentive-based programs that offer rewards to business who demonstrate environmental leadership. For businesses operating with sustainable business practices, the LSC program serves as a gateway into EnviroStars and Green Business certification programs. These programs provide free advertisement and other promotional materials to reward good business practices. Sites found to be in gross violation of the law and/or apparently contaminated are referred to the Solid Waste Enforcement Program. It became clear to staff that the Local Source Control Program needed to merge with the Green Business and EnviroStars Program, and renamed to the Small Business Assistance Program to reflect a more comprehensive program. While our service delivery model will not change substantially, we are striving toward integrating the programs so they are seamless. Green Business Participation in this program has remained steady over the years with little change in the numbers. Staff recognized this year that we will need to revise our standards for restaurants to include current standards on handling and disposing of fats, oils, and grease (FOG). This is due to widespread mishandling of FOGs in the retail food establishments visited. We estimate that current businesses will need at least two years to implement the changes in order to remain in the program. 5 EnviroStars JCPH staff offer guidance and education regarding the proper management and disposal hazardous waste and best management practices to prevent pollution into the environment. We certified three new businesses—Day Boat Works, Rain Shadow Woodworks, and the Washington State Ferries—Port Townsend Terminal. Hazardous Waste JCPH staff will continue to investigate hazardous waste complaints and perform initial investigations and site hazard assessments (SHA’s) for Ecology. The solid waste team will respond to all new referrals from Ecology and expects to resolve the backlog of SHA cases during 2013. Staff will respond to new referrals for Initial Investigation within three business days. General Program Items The Solid Waste Team along with the rest of the Environmental Health Division participated in Enforcement Team meetings. These meetings build consistency within the team and division by developing policies and procedures. To date, the Enforcement Team has revised the Compliant Policy and the Enforcement Policy and is drafting Standard Operating Practices for the division. All EH teams conducted a gap analysis of their policies and procedures. The Solid Waste Team identified the following gaps in their procedures:  Solid Waste Permitting Procedures  Enforcement Decision Matrix (triage)  Local Source Control Visits  Abatements  Soliciting bids and contracts for abatement  Site Hazard Assessments  EnviroStars and Green Business To ensure consistency throughout the life of the programs, the team recommends that the development of SOPs remain a priority. The SOPs will increase efficiency and consistency among staff and over time. Workload Management In the last year, we experienced turnover and gained two new staff members. This afforded us the opportunity to bring in new perspectives and ways of delivering service to the public. One downside to this was that due to our heavy workload, that training was rather stressful to all parties involved. We have reorganized and are currently undergoing workload procedure revision in order to reduce the amount of training time needed for new and experienced staff. Primarily due to the added workload of the Port Townsend Paper Company’s permit renewal, program limitations were exacerbated. Due to funding constraints, the current program is under- staffed and workload unsustainable. We look to 2013 and funding opportunities that may present themselves to ensure that we retain qualified employees and maintain the public health gains observed over the past couple of years. At the current staffing level, we will fall short of our obligations in contracts and grants, as well as risk employee burnout.