Marion Co. metal recovery program: The ash hasn't turned to cash

Note: This story was originally published Nov. 24, 2013

Garbage incinerator ash contains a smidgen of silver. Valuable bits of aluminum, copper, brass and steel, too.

Selling scrap metals gleaned from incinerator ash looked like a money-maker for Marion County in 2010. Another important benefit: it would reduce the volume of ash that's piled high at a disposal site near Woodburn.

Public works staffers told Marion County Commissioners that mining the ash dump for metal was feasible and more than a half-million dollars per year in "net profit" was possible, according to county records.

Instead, the attempt to turn ash into cash became a significant expense.

In the spring of this year, county officials faced a $3.2 million shortfall in the 2013-14 budget of the environmental services fund. An internal newsletter for county employees blamed a "perfect storm" of unexpected events for creating the budget hole. But county officials admit that the $1.6 million cost of moving and sifting ash for metals was a big part of the problem.

"It will never make money. We know that now. They told us earlier that it would make money," said John Lattimer, Marion County's chief administrative officer.

He was blunt in his assessment of public works staffers, asserting staffers made "horrendous management mistakes" in setting up the metal recovery program.

After a pilot project in summer 2010, the Marion County Board of Commissioners in 2011 gave approval to begin a metal recovery program. County records show that over the past two years, more than $2 million has been spent on equipment to move ash and extract metals at the Woodburn site.

A system of screens, magnets, a specialized machine that separates non-ferrous metals, and workers at picking stations, are used to find scrap.

Coins, belt buckles and copper coils from motors often turn up. Rusty iron spheres that look like cannon balls, corroded handguns and a large bell, perhaps from an old school or church, are among the more unusual finds.

What went wrong

Screening ash for metals doesn't produce enough revenue to cover costs at this time, county officials concede.

Garbage burning plants often remove metal from ash before it's shipped for disposal. Marion County, however, operates one of only about three programs in the United States that recover metal from municipal ash dumps.

"We're still in a trial run in front of our bosses, absolutely," said Alan Haley, interim public works director for Marion County.

The decision to buy equipment outright for the metal recovery program, instead of financing the purchases over time or leasing equipment, raised the program's start-up costs.

It also contributed to a cash-flow problem. Costs were incurred before the county had a source of revenue to support its new metal recovery operation.

A $400,000 machine, called an eddy-current, that is essential for collecting nonferrous metals was ordered in late 2012. It wasn't delivered until June and wasn't running until July.

Revenue estimates were off-target by $1 million, partially because of delays in getting the program fully operational, Haley said.

One piece of equipment, a $704,000 Caterpillar D8 tractor purchased in summer 2012, was needed to move ash even if the county hadn't decided to recover metals, he said.

Weather conditions also had larger consequences on the metal recovery operation than anticipated, Haley said.

Bill Worcester, the county's recently retired public works director, declined to discuss the department's actions under his watch.

"My comment is I'm happily retired," Worcester said.

Saving dump space

More than 25 years ago, ash from the Brooks garbage burner began to arrive at a county disposal site two miles north of Woodburn. The ash dump currently has space to last another five to seven years.

Building a new 'cell,' or section, for ash disposal would cost an estimated $2.7 million. Screening ash for metal could reduce the need to create another dump site.

After the ash is processed in Woodburn, it's shipped to the Coffin Butte Landfill near Corvallis for disposal.

"First of all, I'm really happy with this program. That is my big quandary," said Marion County Commissioner Sam Brentano of the metal recovery operations. The commissioner said he wants the program to succeed, although he is concerned about its cost.

Since the garbage burner's inception, a practical means to recycle its ash has been an issue. There's been talk of using the material for road fill or concrete blocks. None of the options have come to be, Brentano said.

Other problems

To be sure, the metal recovery operation wasn't the only factor that led to the shortfall in the environmental services budget:

The county lost $1 million because of a turbine failure at the "Energy from Waste" garbage burner, which reduced revenue from electricity sales.

Heavy rainfall increased run-off from the Woodburn dump, raising leachate disposal fees by about $600,000.

Legal costs associated with negotiating a new contract with the garbage burner's private operator ran up a $400,000 attorney bill.

The 2013-14 budget crunch was managed without having to lay off environmental services employees, although temporary summer positions in the department were not filled. Community grants for environmental programs were trimmed, and county support for a recycling educator at the Salem-Keizer School District ended.

Some critics of the county have blamed the budget problems on Courthouse Square.

Electrical generation fees from the garbage burner — in addition to paying for environmental services programs — have been used to fund a large portion of Courthouse Square's extensive repairs.

About $12.6 million in electrical generation fees will be used for the Courthouse Square remediation project, according to county records. County officials, however, said those funds were never earmarked exclusively for environmental services' use.

Cutting costs

The metal recovery and ash management program has been redesigned to lower its cost. If all goes as planned, county officials said the first-year operating cost of $1.6 million will drop to about $586,000.

Most of the savings would come from avoiding additional handling and trucking of ash. The county has asked the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for permission to truck ash directly from the Brooks garbage burner to the Coffin Butte Landfill.

Covanta Marion, a subsidiary of Covanta Energy Corp, which runs the garbage burner, installed its own non-ferrous metal recovery system in Brooks in 2012.

The county still has plenty of old ash from the garbage burner to check for metals. Sorting metal from the ash piles in Woodburn could keep work crews busy for a couple of decades, county officials said.

mrose@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6657

About the Garbage incinerator

The garbage burner is on a 15-acre site at 4850 Brooklake Road NE in Brooks. The facility operates as Covanta Marion and processes 550 tons per day of municipal solid waste, as well as 250 tons per month of other waste, including medical waste. Its operations generate electricity that is sold to Portland General Electric.

Timeline

• December 1983: Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issues permits for the incinerator in Brooks
• March 1984: Vote on banning the incinerator fails by more than 4,000 votes
• Sept. 19, 1984: Contract between Ogden Martin and Marion County is signed
• September 1984: Construction of facility starts
• April 1986: First load of waste is delivered to facility
• July 1986: Incinerator is operational
• March 1987: Commercial operation begins
• September 1994: Marion County extends agreement until 2014
• 2000: Ogden Martin changes name to Covanta Energy Corp.
• 2008: The bonds will be paid off this October. The payments were about $4.3 million per year. The facility cost about $47.5 million in 1984 dollars.
• September 2013: Marion County signs a new contract with Covanta Marion Inc., a subsidiary of Covanta Energy Corp. The agreement begins September 2014. It requires the county to continue supplying at least 145,000 tons of garbage to the "energy-from-waste" facility each year.

Source: Statesman Journal staff reports and Covanta Energy Corp.