Laura Stiller, Recycling CoordinatorSue Bergeron

Barbara L. MaclennanMonongalia County Solid Waste

Authority

The West Virginia Recycling Act, W.Va. §22-15A-16 State goal of 50% reduction of the waste stream

by 2010. Only mandates recycling for residents/businesses

- municipalities with a population of over 10,000 (only 10 count)

Solid waste management in West Virginia is not based on a free-market system.

Instead, different aspects of the total management of solid waste are split between several state agencies.

WV Public Service Commission WV DEP

Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP)

WV Solid Waste Management Board WV Solid Waste Authorities Litter Control Officers Landfills

Visible Public Good Increase jobs in the region WV Economic Development tied to

recycling & waste management More efficient long distance

hauling Improve environment Create new industry

Becoming increasingly important worldwide

Local business with global markets Everyone produces waste:

Residents Businesses EventsConstruction Industry Entertainment

Waste is a by-product of living Solid waste should be thought of as

infrastructure similar to sewage, water, electric, and roads

University Towne Centre Morgantown, WV $25M+ to build Did not think about trash service/recycling

until AFTER built Road had to be retroactively

built for trash trucks/bins.

Still only one access

road.

Marion County Solid Waste Authority Analysis determined shorter

transportation times more profitable Marion County Solid Waste Authority

creating a transfer station to send material to Monongalia County Distribution Center

Saves money for Marion County and haulers

Creates jobs and income through commodities

MCSWA currently acts as processing/distribution center Analysis indicated need for a bigger facility

MCSWA currently only publicly-owned financially self-sustaining recycling facility in N.E. U.S

Experienced growth during market crash

Has markets others don’t: #4-#7 plastic, prescription bottles, plastic film, glass, etc.

• Recycling not mandated• Recycling wholly voluntary• Regulated as a utility • No free-market for hauling solid

waste/recyclables • Not supported by taxes• Few counties with landfill revenue• No urban areas • Few interstate routes

Design Goals Develop a GIS that could be utilized in both day-to-

day operations at the MCSWA and in long-range planning

Demonstrate how solid waste and recycling could be integrated with other government services to create a comprehensive GIS management and planning tool

Data Collection Identify and map local and regional recycling drop-

off locations and resources Identify and map waste hauler territories and

routes Identify and map relevant data related to

environmental issues, such as open dumps, water quality, etc.

Develop demographic layers to aid in improving recycling service and planning for increased demand, such as business, event venues, and federal offices.

• Digitizing narrative tariffs– Interpreting text descriptions of location and

generating specific GIS data layers– Resolving ambiguities in descriptions

• Developing a route layer– Determining streets and roads that fall within

hauler territories– Generating a line layer for each hauler

• Developing a service address layer– Address only, no names to protect privacy

Waste hauling conceived and regulated as both a utility and a motor carrier Goal = ensure curbside trash service to 100% of WV

residents and businesses No unified system for identifying and mapping waste

hauler routes or service addresses Interpret text descriptions filed with tariffs

Tariff authority often date back for decades Are drawn up and executed as text documents; no

maps are required or submitted No consistent language or geographical boundaries

used in descriptions Widely varying level of detail in description section of

tariff WV Public Service Commission does not maintain a

master map to determine if the tariff descriptions are accurate or comprehensive

Resolve ambiguous terms “side roads” –

What defines a side road? How far down a side road that connects to

another road? Resulting polygons are not related to a master data

set and can not be considered authoritative for management purposes Polygons do not indicate specific roads or

locations, nor ensure that all addresses are served Overlaps and missing areas exist Local haulers sometimes make informal

agreements to resolve disputes that are not reflected in official tariffs

WV Public Service Commission, Motor Carrier Division, also maintains a separate system of records, known as “blue cards” to determine route authority for waste haulers that do not necessarily agree with tariff boundaries

Initial description – “those points and places in Marion County, east of

I-79, that are located within a radius of five (5) miles of the

intersection between I-79 and W Va. Route 310”

“excluding the following points and places: (a) those points and places that are located to the east of Little Creek; (b) those points and places that are located to the north of Marion County Route 76; “

After all exclusions enumerated in the textual description were applied, the remaining polygons represent the waste hauler territory as described in the tariff

• After completing waste hauler territory GIS layer, determined that polygon layers were not sufficient

• Initially, an intersect operation was utilized to select the roads and streets contained within each waste hauler territory

• A preliminary line layer was generated indicating the streets and roads served by each hauler

• Accuracy issues with the waste hauler tariff boundaries also affect the route layer

After reviewing the waste hauler territory digitization process, it was determined that the highest level of accuracy could be obtained by mapping individual service addresses for each waste hauler

Waste haulers are required by WV law to provide customer lists to SWAs and SWMB to ensure that all households and businesses comply with trash service requirements

Addresses can be geocoded (without customer names) to determine what locations are served by each hauler

Currently working with test data sets for several haulers to generate a service address data layer

Continue to develop GIS data layers for waste hauler service addresses

Utilize service address data to develop accurate route data

Utilize MCSWA GIS data layers in the development of new management and collaboration tools, such as 3D digital city models