The Will County Board on Thursday approved the expansion of a special-waste landfill southwest of Joliet, but the company that operates it still must obtain a state permit before proceeding.
The vote was 19-2 for a 70-acre expansion of the Laraway Recycling and Disposal Facility owned and run by Waste Management Inc. of Oak Brook. The landfill now is 80 acres.
As part of an agreement with the county, the company would consolidate and cap a 19 million ton pile of phosphogypsum–a byproduct of making fertilizer from phosphate rock at the defunct Olin Chemical plant–on a nearby 106-acre tract.
The two board members who voted against the plan cited environmental concerns, despite the county’s addition of 31 conditions, most of which addressed environmental issues, to the agreement.
Kathleen Konicki (R-Homer Glen) said she did not believe there were enough assurances that both the landfill and phosphogypsum piles, once filled and capped, would be safe for recreational use, as planned.
Ronald Svara (R-Homer Glen) expressed similar concerns and also noted the agreement would allow Waste Management to accept waste from 10 counties. He would rather see the waste come solely from Will, he said.
But attorney Charles Helsten, hired by the board to handle the issue, said the agreement ensures the county will get land deemed safe for “residential use” once Waste Management is done with it.
The agreement allows the company to dump 19 million tons of non-hazardous industrial waste and construction and demolition debris at the expanded landfill, southwest of Laraway and Patterson Roads.
That would extend by 20 years the life of the landfill, which is near capacity. Meanwhile, contaminated soil cleaned through biological processes would be placed on top of the gypsum stack over two decades.
Once finished with the landfill and gypsum pile, Waste Management would cap both facilities and deed them to the county.
Capping the phosphogypsum will cost Waste Management more than $23 million, a company spokesman said.
Waste Management can apply for the permit after a 35-day period to appeal the County Board’s decision has lapsed, said Dean Olsen, county waste services manager.
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hdardick@tribune.com
