The construction of Peoria County’s Landfill 3 by disposal company Green for Life Environmental, or GFL, is being pushed back a decade.
The delay is the result of a reworked agreement, approved by the Peoria County Board in a special meeting Tuesday night. The decision amends an agreement made with Peoria Disposal Company (PDC) in 2009, before it was acquired by GFL.
While the original agreement stipulated an active Landfill 3 by 2014, the new terms push that date back to Jan. 1, 2035. In the meantime, GFL will construct a “transfer station” in nearby Pottstown, to collect residents’ trash before carrying it further to other facilities.
The Pottstown transfer station is expected to be open by early 2026.
“One of the positives coming out of the transfer station to the county is unincorporated residents getting a normalized collection rate,” Civil Chief Assistant State’s Attorney Jennie Cordis-Boswell explained to the board Tuesday. “They are going to be able to have a set rate with GFL for collection that starts at $42.50 and right now, people in unincorporated county are paying much more than that and aren’t getting recycling.”
Recycling would be included in the new agreement.
Other incentives include lower “gate rates” at landfills, a $300,000 interim payment from GFL to the county when Landfill 2 ceases operation and rebates for the City of Peoria and the county. County officials estimate these incentives mean more than a million dollars in savings annually for the city and county.
“As well, [GFL] agreed to place the operating permit, or the whole constructing operating permit [for Landfill 3] into escrow,” said Cordis-Boswell. “So if there is a triggering event, things go sideways again, we can take the permit and the landfill committee can just take over and construct the landfill themselves.”
The construction of Landfill 3 has “gone sideways” over the last few years for a variety of reasons. Questions from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Illinois Environmental Protection (IEPA) agency raised issues with a potentially forgotten mine shaft, the IDNR requested mitigations for a dam and wetlands near the site, delays in construction almost resulted in litigation between the county and GFL.
The board approved the agreement, voting 15 to 1. Board member Linda Daley was absent and Paul Rosenbohm abstained due to a “relationship with GFL.” Rob Reneau was the only dissenting vote.
“My comfort level isn’t there yet with this, with this agreement,” Reneau said. “There’s an associated risk that we’re accepting as a county that this will go down the way it’s supposed to go down.”
Reneau requested an additional provision on the corporate guarantee placing the Landfill 3 operating permit in escrow requiring GFL to “make [the county] whole” if the guarantee is triggered. He says that was removed from the version the board voted on.
The county board’s approval is not the only vote needed on the new agreement. The City of Peoria and the Peoria City/County Landfill Committee will also need to vote on it.
The council’s next meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 8. The landfill committee meets Wednesday, Oct. 9.
