Sahuarita Landfill to close in summer

Pima County officials are preparing to close the Sahuarita Landfill for at least one year starting July 1, citing budget problems. The move could hit landscapers and households hard.

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry on Wednesday issued a memo saying “the Sahuarita Landfill operates at or near a deficit position. Therefore it is appropriate to plan on its temporary closure for at least Fiscal Year 2010/11, beginning July 1, 2010.”

The county’s solid waste program, which includes the landfills in Sahuarita and on Ina Road and Tangerine Road in northwest Tucson, is losing $2 million to $2.5 million a year, said Ursula Kramer, director of the Department of Environmental Quality.

Huckelberry said in a separate Friday memo “it would be appropriate to begin planning for the closure of the Ina Road construction debris, green waste and tire storage facility,” to consolidate those functions at Tangerine Road, and to plan for building a transfer station at Tangerine Road west of Interstate 10.

The next nearest dump to Sahuarita is Los Reales Landfill in Tucson, a half mile east of Tucson International Airport.

If the Sahuarita Landfill closes, it will cause major problems for landscapers, many of whom who barely make it now, said Ruth Gleason of Amado, owner of C&D Landscaping. She makes two to three runs a day to the Sahuarita Landfill.

She said that when the Sahuarita Landfill was temporarily closed to landscapers several years ago, she spent 40 minutes driving on each trip to Los Reales, then waited from five to 15 minutes in line to get into the dump.

“What are we going to save? Think of all the pollution from trucking into Los Reales dump and the wear and tear on the roads. They’re not saving anything. Raise the prices! If they’ve got to double them, double them,” Gleason said.

Kramer said that by temporarily consolidating all solid waste functions, the county would save staff costs and the costs of operating three sets of heavy equipment, such as compactors. She said that raising fees would probably drive away commercial haulers, who provide the majority of revenue at the Sahuarita Landfill.

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